Greek Gods and Gruesome Games
by TwinsofAthena
Summary: Percy Jackson is good at a lot of things: swimming, sword-fighting, and-most important of all-saving the world. But, what happens when the famous son of Poseidon and his newly reunited girlfriend have to save TWO worlds? Crossover between Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Hunger Games!
1. We Go on the Joyride of Doom

**A/N: Hey, there, Sarah here! Thanks for checking out my story! (Well, actually it's a "crossover".. but same difference!) This is my first fanfiction on this site, so please R&R! I would really appreciate it! Additional thanks to my wonderful editor, Vivian! Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Percy Jackson or the Hunger Games. All credits go to the wonderful Rick Riordan and Suzan Collins. Okay, I'm going to stop babbling now. Let's get to it!**

Percy~

~We Go on the Joyride of Doom~  
It only took one extremely good-looking twin god and two switching-of-worlds to ruin my day.  
At first, things were going perfect. Annabeth and I were soaring above the streets of San Francisco on none other than "Blackjack the Great and Magnificent Pegasus". Um, don't ask. (See, Blackjack? I told you that name would sound seriously cheesy. Ow! Hey! What are your hooves made out of, titanium?)  
This was Annabeth's and my first day back together, and we were spending it outside of Camp Jupiter.  
We flew over the Golden Gate bridge (which was approximately 8,980 feet long and was built in the 1930's... extra knowledge, courtesy of Annabeth) a couple of times and into the mainland. The view was awesome, but we didn't have any time to admire it, considering the fact that we were flying about, oh, maybe a hundred-and-fifty miles per hour. Blackjack was putting on full speed, even doing some aerial loops and spirals. Talk about fancy flying.  
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled at me over the wind as we twirled upwards into the sky, "You are SO dead when we get back-"  
Whatever she was going to say next was cut off short as Blackjack plummeted into a steep 180 degree dive, making her scream in pure delight. She tightened her grip around my stomach, her long blonde hair flying out behind her like a golden flame. I screamed along with her at the top of my lungs.  
_How's that for flying, Boss?_ Blackjack whinnied proudly, abruptly pulling out of the dive after about 300 hundred feet. _A little too intense for you lovebirds back there?_ he teased.  
Well, look at that. My pegasus had made me blush big time. "Nah," I thought, "It's perfect."  
Annabeth put her head on my shoulder as Blackjack peacefully glided over 'Frisco, giving us a break from those crazy dives.  
"So, where was I again, Seaweed Brain?"  
"I think you were going on about how you were going to kill me. Which," I added quickly, "I would be very grateful if you didn't, because, you know, I have to kind of save the world... and stuff."  
She laughed and gave me a light peck on my cheek. I could feel her smile through her kiss, and I grinned, no doubt looking goofy.  
"You're in luck, Percy," she whispered secretively, "I, unfortunately, don't have my knife with me at the moment.  
"I smell a lie."  
"Well, if you really insist..."  
"No, it's good. I would prefer not to die anytime soon, thanks." Dying on a pegasus' back with my girlfriend on didn't exactly make the cut to my Top Ten Things to Do Before I Turn 18 List.  
_Hey boss, don't worry_, Blackjack reassured me, _You know she's in love with you when she starts giving you the death threats. _  
"Blackjack," I said, " Shut up."  
_Whatever you say, boss._  
We flew low over the buildings, but I wasn't exactly concerned with the mortals. Through the Mist, we'd probably look like some overly large bird or invisible to them. Things were blissfully quiet for a few minutes except for the flap of Blackjack's wings and the occasional motor of an airplane when I suddenly felt Annabeth tense behind me.  
"What's up?" I asked, worried. Something that could make her go all rigid like that was something that made me nervous. "What's wrong?"  
"Percy..." she said hesitantly as she pointed to a local park a few blocks ahead, "I thought I just saw, I don't know, it might have been...I saw a guy appeared out of nowhere in the middle of that park."  
"Oh," I said, not liking the sound of this, "Blackjack, land us down there."  
_Gotcha, boss._  
Blackjack descended and glided to the park. Just as we were to dismount from him, Annabeth blurted out, "He had blonde hair."  
I almost fell off my pegasus, stunned. "Who?" I asked, even though I already knew what she was talking about.  
"Him," she said in a small voice, "The guy in the park."  
Oh. I understood why she felt so uncomfortable, because I had a feeling I knew exactly who Annabeth thought she had seen. It was my old friend/rival/enemy/sort-of friend again for the last few minutes of his life-Luke Castellan. I didn't know if it was actually him, seeing as he was dead, but in the mythological Greek world, anything was possible.  
"Guess we're about to find out," I muttered.  
Annabeth and I were about to set out to find the mysterious boy, but then a voice said from behind us, "Hey there, little cousin. Glad you could come."  
The boy had found us.  
Actually, he was more of a man than a boy. A five-thousand year old man, to be exact, but gods could look any way they wanted to. This god was in his mid-twenties, and he was dressed in a white v-neck shirt with dark blue jeans. Annabeth was right-he did have blonde hair, but it was a shade lighter than Luke's. To top it all off, he was wearing a pair of white framed Ray Bans which matched his bright white smile. For a god who had lived for eternity through dozens of fashion trend changes, Apollo really had style. Expect for his haikus. Uh, forget I said that, will you?  
"Lord Apollo," Annabeth greeted, and I couldn't tell which one of us was more relieved to see that it was him and not you-know-who. "This is an honor."  
Hmm. I would've just gone with a simple "hi", but Annabeth's way worked, too.  
Apollo grinned, "Hello, Annabeth! Nice architecture work on Olympus so far, girl. I sincerely like that great statue of me in front of the dining pavilions. Really shows off my biceps, you know. But of course, I'll be expecting lots more-five, at least! You've got loads of talent!" I fought the urge to clear my throat and say, "Ahem! That's my line!"  
Apollo winked at her.  
Great, the now sun god the flirting with my girlfriend.  
Annabeth looked like she didn't know whether to be pleased or terrified. "I, um, well... thank you?" she stuttered, flabbergasted.  
I couldn't blame her. I mean, it's not everyday that your hard work gets praised by an all powerful plus handsome sun god. But then again, having to create almost half a dozen more life-size-as in, twenty feet tall-Apollo statues could be a pretty long drag. And then there were also the requests from Ares and Aphrodite to deal with, too.  
I didn't think Apollo was here to chit chat about architecture with Annabeth, though. Gods don't usually seek you out without a reason, and it's almost never a good one.  
I was right. The god turned to me and said, "And my, Percy, long time no sea! Er, bad pun. But anyways, I know you've just gone on a quest to Alaska, but I need your help, if you're willing."  
"But Apollo," Annabeth asked, confused, "I thought Zeus ordered for Olympus to be closed down, right? The gods and goddesses weren't allowed to have any contact with mortals."  
Apollo nodded. "That's right, but this quest is too important to be ignored. Countless lives depend on it. Wait, I feel a haiku coming!"  
Annabeth and I tried our best not to groan, but we still miserably failed.  
"Zeus said to close down,  
But since I am so awesome,  
I will help my bro's!" Apollo recited.  
I decided to ignore that and thought of the time I meet Apollo at the train station a couple years ago.  
"So... should I call you 'Fred', again?" I said stupidly. I blame my ADHD.  
Annabeth shot me a questioning glance, but he just laughed, "No, no. I go by Bobby now."  
"Bobby it is, then. So, what's this important quest about? I'm guessing it's highly top secret?"  
"Well, there is a girl who lives in the future," Apollo began. "Being the god of prophecies, I see things in my dreams. Prophetic things. So, I see this girl frequently throughout my dreams. She is living in an era where North America has collapsed due to war, and the corrupt government there is known as Panem. It is corrupt beyond measure. Someday, she will rebel, but she will fail. Why? Because the Fates have decreed that she has a greater destiny, one that lies in modern times. This girl, Katniss Everdeen, is the seventh member of the Great Prophecy."  
Annabeth and I both drew in a sharp breath. We glanced at each other and a look of understanding passed between us. Now we knew why this quest was so crucial to us, and why Apollo needed our help so badly.  
"I'll pretend that she's my daughter and send her to any of the two camps. I am having her travel through time to come here, to the present, and fulfill her destiny," the god continued.  
"But an exchange must go to ways."  
"That's why you need US to take her place," I guessed, "We need to rebel against this evil society in her place. But our friends need our help here in the present, too. What will happen when we're gone?"  
"I can assure you that the demigods are in a short period of peace for now. They will rest and train and learn each other's fighting skills, therefore making them stronger and more united as one. Then, we will be ready for the Giants." Apollo's cheerful expression suddenly turned grim.  
"But Percy, without Katniss Everdeen, the prophecy will be incomplete. You all will be doomed without her. This quest matters more than anything else, do you understand? I cannot send her here without sending someone into the future to take her place as the Mockingjay-"  
"The what?"  
"The symbol of the rebellion, to put it that way. You'll have to forge your own path through this quest, Percy. There will be no help from the gods this time."  
"But think of it like this: If Katniss does not come fight in this war, we are doomed. If she stays in her world and fights in that war, they are doomed. But if you go and fight in her war, you might  
stand a chance. I'm sorry, but this is the only way." have to save modern civilization evil Greek giants, but I also have to save the future world of America from a hideously corrupt government by rebelling?" I summed up.  
"Well... yeah," the sun god admitted regrettably.  
No pressure or anything.  
Annabeth punched me in the arm and glared at me. "Are you forgetting someone, Seaweed Brain? I'm coming with you, so maybe this whole quest won't be TOTALLY suicidal."  
I rolled my eyes but smiled thankfully at her.  
"Naturally," I replied. I knew there was another reason why she wanted to go with me, though, but I didn't dare say it out loud because she would pretty much kill me. Try not seeing the person you love the most for nearly nine months. Annabeth and I had only been reunited at Camp Jupiter since yesterday, and I couldn't stand the thought of ever leaving her again.  
Apollo eyed us stoically but finally sighed, resigned. "Alright, you can take miss Annie here along, too, I guess. But be warned-many dangers lie ahead, some that you have never faced before. Your lives will be constantly in mortal peril."  
"Been there, done that," Annabeth said, "No disrespect, but what's new, Lord Apollo?"  
The god's grin was literally blinding. "Ah, I've forgotten what a resilient bunch you demigods are. Always too willing for some adventure, eh? Very well, then, I've just entered your names into the reaping ball! Off you guys go now! In three..."  
I took hold of Annabeth's hand.  
"Two..."  
We shut our eyes tight.  
"One."  
Then the world turned upside down, and I blacked out.  
• • •

**A/N: So, how did you like it? We will be updating soon! Thanks for reading!**


	2. I Meet MrPurpleHaired Porcupine Vampire

**A/N: Hey, Sarah and Vivian here! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, because here's the next one! (I will be switching POV's from Percy, Annabeth, and Katniss—maybe Peeta.) Thank you guys so much for our reviews! Keep it up, we love you! Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Hunger Games. All rights go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!  
**

Annabeth~ I Meet the Purple-Haired Porcupine Vampire

I thought I was prepared for just about everything in the future-except, it turned out, a man with glittery purple hair and bejeweled eyebrows.  
So the next time I regained my consciousness, I was lying in a dimly lit room on a cold mattress.

Looking out of a window, I could see that it was either dawn or dusk because the sky was tinged with a beautiful mixture of purple and orange and pink. I waited a few minutes and pondered my predicament.

So obviously, Apollo had sent Percy and I into the future for one main reason: rebel against an evilly corrupt government and bring it down. It wasn't easy, but it was-for the most part-simple. Daughters of wisdom could overcome any measure of difficulty in a task as long as we knew how to do it. Knowledge is power, right?  
I thought I had a general picture of what we were up against: a cunning tyrant with a huge army and a large number of supporters. There would be a war, a very bloody war, similar to the American and French Revolutions. History has an uncanny habit of repeating itself, and I was going over tactics of how Percy and I could fuel a rebellion using ideas from the past when a sudden realization hit me.  
_Where was PERCY?_  
"Oh, no, no," I muttered to myself as I frantically scrambled out of bed, "Not this again."  
I dashed out of my temporary room and into an adjacent one right next door. This seemed to be a kitchen and a dining room combined, but everything looked so dreary. The curtains were a dull gray color, and so was the rug on the kitchen floor. The cupboards were made out of a faded wood material. Everything in the room had a depressing feel to it, sad, even.  
To my right was a doorway leading to another room, and I was going to explore it when I heard an odd sound outside. It sounded like... marching? The sound of heavy boots slamming onto asphalt, marching to who-knows-where. The sound of an army. I bit my lip and made a snap decision—

_Let's go find out where they're headed._ I thought as I stealthily slipped out into the cold.  
I wished I had brought a jacket or a sweater because the only thing I was wearing was my camp T-shirt and a pair of worn down jeans. The weather outside was foggy and overcast, so I could hardly see ten feet in front of me. Now would so not be a good time to walk headfirst into a tree. That would be very heroic of me. That was something Seaweed Brain would do, not me.  
I grew nearer to the marching as I hurried along by picking up my pace, sprinting a little. I thought I heard someone shouting orders in the distance, too. I debated whether I should put on my invisibility hat before the marchers saw me, but I then realized that I didn't even have it with me. That was weird. I_ knew_ I had strung my hat through the belt loops of my jeans when was getting ready just this morning. I remembered strapping my knife to my arm like I always did-thank the gods it was still there-, then packing my hat and an emergency bag of ambrosia in my pocket. It might have fallen off when I rode Blackjack with Percy, but I doubted it. I was sure one of us would've noticed it, and plus, I had complete faith in Velcro straps anyways.

There was no way my hat could've come loose from my jeans, even when the pegasus was doing so many loop-de-loops that it made me want to hurl, as in barf. Or hurl, as in throw, something at Percy. Like a rock.  
_Gods_, I thought as I scrambled along the worn road, following the marching sound, _I hope Mom doesn't assume I've become an Angels' fan now_.  
But that would be impossible. Athena never, ever assumes anything. It's a dangerous thing to do.  
Finally, I caught up and the fog thinned out enough so that I could see a very confusing scene right ahead of me. I was right about the army, but when I said "_army_", I was picturing a legion of full grown men-tall, buff, imposing. What I _didn't_ expect to see was an extremely large group of children marching in perfect, orderly rows, each wearing an olive green military jacket with words embroidered on the back that read "PEACEKEEPER TRAINEE". They also all wore solid black boots that made a heavy THUD each time they took a step, even the smaller children. Some looked years younger than I was, maybe eleven or twelve. What was going on?  
I realized that if I ever wanted to find out, I would have to watch and wait.  
So I tagged along quietly behind the "Peacekeeper Trainees", and after several more minutes, we reached our destination. It was some sort of town square, like the kind in the old-fashioned days. There were many adults milling around the area, and I realized that they were the parents of the group of marching children.  
There was a big, fancy stage that was set up in the middle of the square. The stage was bright and colorful and held the first technology I had seen since I got here-a movie theater sized television screen on either side. In the center was a raised podium behind two huge glass balls, which held little scraps of paper. It reminded me of a lottery, but I couldn't tell if this was the good or bad kind. By the excited whispers of the children in front of me, the event seemed like something they had been waiting for a long time to come. _Reaping ball_, I remembered Apollo saying. He must have entered Percy and I into the drawing-for what, though, I had no idea.  
"Hey," I overheard a girl whisper to another boy, "I heard Cato is volunteering as a tribute this year. Is that true?"  
The boy nodded, grinning, though to me it looked more like a sneer. It was a facial expression that belonged mostly to Ares, the war god, more than anyone else.  
Just then, a ridiculously high-pitched voice rang out at the front of the stadium. "Ladies on the right!" it said, "Gentlemen on the left! Quickly, now!" I craned my head above the crowd of kids to see who was speaking, and she-sorry, HE-caught me by absolute surprise.  
If he hadn't been so tall, I would never have been able to spot him over the kids.

He was at least six-and-a-half feet tall, maybe even more, and very lanky. His skin was as pale as ivory, so I kind of expected him to start sprouting fangs or flash blood-red eyes at the audience any minute.  
But the thing that about him that startled me the most was his hair. I mean, this guy had super spiky purple hair that stuck out in all directions, like he had a rabid porcupine attached to the top of his head. And, maybe I was imagining things, but it seemed to me that his hair had a weird kind of sparkle to it, as if someone had taken a glitter gun and sprayed it all over the porcupine, THEN plopped it on the poor guy's head. He almost reminded me of a purple Sonic the Hedgehog. I didn't keep up with fashion trends of the present, but I had a feeling this was one very drastic change. And, seriously, who in the world ever wore shimmery white bell-bottom pants with a black velvet vest and loafers? Except Apollo. Talk about scandalous.  
None of the children at the square seemed to be paying any attention to him, though, so I decided it was time to find some answers.  
"Excuse me," I asked politely as I could, tapping on the shoulder of a girl in front of me, "But what is this assembly all about? What's going on?"  
She turned around and looked at me like I was some kind of slimy dead fish that had just fallen out of the sky and landed on her military boots, covering them with slime. A mixture of emotions crossed her face in a second: anger, confusion, disdain. Her dark eyes bore through mine, but I'd fought Medusa, a drakon the size of three school buses, and a psychopath of a Sphinx before.

This girl didn't scare me, she just irritated me. "Where have YOU been living, the moon?" she asked me scathingly. "These are the reapings for the Hunger Games, of course! Get your days straight, girl! And, why aren't you wearing your uniform?" the girl demanded.  
"I'm, um, not from around here," I replied carefully, constructing a lie, "I just moved, but I might have lost track of the time when I was traveling."  
"What district are you from? No, never mind, it doesn't matter right now; you're making us look bad! Oh, just come here!" she rudely shoved me in front of her to block me from view as music started to play from invisible speakers and a seal lit up the television screens. An informative video began playing, and it was all about how, nearly a century ago, one of the districts-they're sort of like states-of Panem rebelled against the Capitol. (Which was basically, well, the capitol of the country.) The video went on to say that the rebellion of District 13 lead to a long and hard war, fought over almost two decades, but eventually the district was destroyed, turned into nothing more than rubble. Since then, the remaining twelve districts would send one boy and one girl tribute from the ages of twelve to eighteen to the Capitol every year.  
"These twenty-four male and female tributes," the woman narrator went on in a horribly casual tone, "Would fight in an arena to the death, a televised event solely for the entertainment of the Capitol citizens. Only a single child will make it out alive, and the victor will be the last one standing. This was, and IS the districts' punishment for declaring war and creating bloodshed on our country of Panem. And now, let the reapings begin." The music-I guessed that it was the national anthem-played again and the crowd cheered. On the other hand, I felt like I was going to be sick.  
_So this_, I thought weakly, _was the horrors Apollo had been warning us. This government was evil enough to gain entertainment from fights to the death. It's a wonder how no one has at least tried to rebel again._

The situation was even worse. I had seen shots of previous Games in the video clip, and there were things there that no single mortal could do. I saw fireballs shooting from the sky at a target tribute, a dam breaking and flooding a whole arena, thunderstorms and cyclones, and more flames. To say the famous "This is bad" statement from my Seaweed Brain would be a total understatement this time.  
My thoughts were interrupted as the Mr. Purple Glittery Sonic Porcupine Vampire Man (who shall be henceforth known as "Mr. Purple") stepped out from behind his podium and spoke into the microphone, his high-pitched voice amplified a hundred times.

"Let's start with the gentleman, shall we?" he asked us giddily, which only I took as a major insult. Plus, I could almost imagine Terminus strangling him with invisible hands and yelling, "Where are your manners? Ladies go first, son! Someone get me the manual so I can have this fool sit here and read it the rest of the day! Yes, I mean it, and I mean it NOW!"  
Mr. Purple reached into the large glass ball on the left of his podium and rifled through the strips of paper inside. His bony hand picked one out delicately on the top of the pile, and he opened it up and said, "Ladies and gentleman, the male tribute from District Two of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games will be Triston Gaites!"  
A scrawny looking boy from the male section of the audience confidently sauntered up to the stage and took his place next to Mr. Purple. A few people even congratulated him, even though he looked only fourteen or fifteen. He had NADA fear in his eyes, and I wondered how that was even possible. Hello, you might be dead in three weeks!  
"Ladies next!" Mr. Purple continued enthusiastically. Again, he reached into the glass ball on the right this time and shuffled the papers around a little, obviously enjoying all of the suspense he was creating. His hand picked a slip of paper out at random from the middle of the bunch and he pulled it out. It took him about a million years to unfold the paper, that drama queen. Finally, the Drama King took a deep breath and read, "Ladies and gentlemen, the female tribute from District Two of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games will be..."  
That paused stretched on for a millennium. Time seemed to slow down, as if Kronos was messing with things again.  
"Annabeth Chase."

I walked up to the stage like I was in a dream. I remember the other kids staring at me confusedly, some whispering and pointing.  
"Who is she?"  
"It's like she came out of nowhere..."  
"I've never seen her here before-"  
"Why isn't she wearing her UNIFORM?"  
I held my head high. That was all I could've done as I silently climbed the steps on the side of the stage and stood on the other side of Mr. Purple. Some ADHD part of me noticed that there were small purple jewels tracing the tops of his eyebrows, sparkling in the morning sun. I was still in a daze when he asked, "Now, are there any volunteers?"  
I didn't get what he was saying, but the question was apparently directed at the kids in the audience. But why would any idiot want to volunteer for a fight to the death? That was pretty much suicide.  
Just then, a monstrous boy with blonde hair pushed his way through the crowd and clambered up onstage. He looked to be about eighteen, the oldest you could be to participate in the Hunger Games. "I do," he said in a booming voice, so loud that he didn't need to use the mic, "I volunteer as tribute!"  
Mr. Purple looked delighted, pleased. For him, this was nothing but a very interesting dramatic episode. "And what would your name be, son?" he asked the blonde boy.  
"Cato," the boy replied with a snarky smile on his face. "Cato Leerman."  
"Well, Cato, it is a pleasure to meet you. Tristan, will you choose to step down?" the announcer beamed at the scrawny boy. Tristan nodded and smirked, heading back down the steps and disappearing into the audience. The blonde boy, Cato, sneered at me, like _Oh boy, more people to kill!_ I glared at him and held my gaze. Like I said before, I don't scare easily.  
"Any other volunteers?" Mr. Purple asked the crowd, "This is your last chance!"  
"I volunteer! I, Clove Jaelyn, volunteer as tribute!" a voice yelled. The girl that had snapped at me earlier ascended the steps to the stage, pushed me aside, and stood next to Cato. She was older than me, probably as old as Cato.  
Mr. Purple looked pleased. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "Annabeth Chase, will you step down?"  
Part of me wanted to be relieved that Clove had taken my place. I didn't even want to go NEAR the arena of the Hunger Games. I didn't want to battle against twenty-three other tributes for a stupid "crown" or eternal glory. Percy had taught me a long time ago that too much pride could be dangerous, even fatal.  
But on the other hand, I couldn't step down, couldn't hand over a my spot for some stuck-up girl of the future. Apollo had gotten me this far. _I've just entered your names into the reaping ball_, he had said. Apollo clearly intended for me to compete in the Hunger Games. Otherwise, why would he bother entering my name into the deadly drawing? I knew this was what he wanted me to do, and I wasn't going to be the one that messed up his plans. Maybe Seaweed Brain, but not me.  
Oh, Percy? I thought helplessly, Where ARE you?  
But in the meantime, I answered Mr. Purple's question with a calm and simple, "No."  
Clove looked momentarily stunned. "Huh?" she asked intelligently to no one in particular.  
"I said, 'No.' I refuse to step down," I told her.  
Mr. Purple was clearly baffled, but he pasted a smile on his face nevertheless. "Well, then, it looks like Annabeth Chase will stay and play as a tribute. Clove Jaelyn, you may return to your place with the rest of the children." He was almost jumping with joy from all the drama, I noticed.  
Clove gave me the REALLY evil eye and stared daggers. "Why, you little brat!" she screamed. And then she charged at me, only a dozen feet away.  
Instincts took over me immediately. Quick as lightning, I drew my Celestrial bronze knife from my arm and threw it-at the ground. The blade impaled itself into the wooden stage with a sharp twanging sound, quivering a little. It was less than a millimeter from Clove's feet, and my message was clear: _Stay back, or else_.  
Everyone was dead silent.  
Clove's pale face had turned a dark shade of red. Determined not to embarrass herself anymore, she stormed off the stage, flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder.  
Mr. Purple was the first to recover from his shock. "Well, ladies and gentlemen of District 2," he said brightly, "Here are your final two tributes of this year's Hunger Games: Cato Leerman and Annabeth Chase!"

Katniss~  
Things would have been bad enough without a sort-of handsome son of a baker tagging along with me. I didn't remember much, but everything had happened way too fast for me to process.  
I had gone to Peeta Mellark's shop earlier this morning to trade some squirrels for bread. I knocked and waited at the back door, agitatedly waiting for someone to arrive. Mother would freak if she found out I had been gone for so long.  
Finally, the door opened. I had expected the kindly baker to greet me, but it turned out to be his son, Peeta, instead. His blue eyes found mine for a moment then, flitted away. "Hi, Katniss," he mumbled, avoiding my gaze.  
"Hey."  
"Did you come to see my father? He's busy in the shop right now, but I'm sure he'll spare you some time."  
"Uh, yeah," I said awkwardly, "Thanks."  
If you haven't noticed already, Peeta and I have a history.  
I was so distracted though, that I tripped over the steps as I followed Peeta inside. He steadied me with a hand on my shoulder. "Careful," he said gently.  
And then the world spun dizzyingly around us, and I blacked out.

The next time I woke up, I was lying in a lush, green forrest. I didn't mind it at all, but I tried to figure out what had happened. Did Peeta somehow knock me out kidnap me into the woods? That didn't really sound like something he would do, though...  
Then I caught sight of him lying twenty feet to my left, unconscious. I rushed over to his side and checked his pulse, putting my ear to his muscular chest. Thank the gods, Peeta was breathing, alive. I had no idea what I would do if he wasn't.  
Suddenly, a blinding white light flashed before my eyes, so bright I had to look away. It was just floating right there, a miniature sun. It darted back and forth, and after a few minutes, I realized that we had to follow it.  
"Peeta," I whispered, "Come on. Wake up." Naturally, he didn't. My life tries its best to make me suffer.  
Without a warning, the light drifted over to Peeta-and floated right through him. I stifled a scream, but right then, Peeta gasped and open his sky blue eyes.

"What...?" he asked, bewildered.  
I hauled held out a hand and hauled him up quickly because the light was already floating away.

"No time!" I said, "I'll explain later! Follow that light!"

We raced after it, dodging trees and the occasional bird. We reached the edge of the forest and before me I saw a something that only existed in the past. I think the term was... a summer camp.  
The bright light was completely gone. A man on a horse was galloping towards me, but it seemed like he was actually PART of the horse. From waist up, he was human with a bow slung across his shoulder, but from waist down, he was a pure white stallion, four legs and all. Running along side him was a frizzy red-haired girl, huffing to keep up with the man-horse. They approached us grimly, and I was still trying to get over my shock. I had a feeling Peeta was, too.  
The two stopped right in front of us and surveyed us warily. Then, the man-horse turned to the girl and said, "So, Apollo really has done it. Rachel, is this really her?"  
The red-haired girl nodded, "Yes, Chiron. This is Katniss Everdeen, seventh member of the Second Great Prophecy, daughter of none, and future savior of modern civilization."  
• • •


	3. My Campmates are Supposed to be Deceased

**A/N: Hi guys! So, like Sarah and I promised, the more reviews and followers, the faster the chapters will come! Thanks to all who review, we appreciate it! Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Hunger Games! All credits go to wonderful Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins. Happy reading!**

Katniss~My Camp-Mates are Supposed to be Deceased

If I had thought people that were half-barnyard animals were weird at Camp Half-Blood, that was before I saw the girl in the fire, the rock climbing wall spewing lava, and the sword arena where campers actually tried to kill each other with real weapons forged out of a kind of metal called Celestrial Bronze. It reminded me painfully of the Capitol's cruelty, but all of the matches were friendly, and the fighters were wearing armor. I figured it was a hundred times safer than the Hunger Games.

As Chiron the horse-man-a centaur, they called him-took me on the tour of the camp, he and Rachel explained everything to me, about Western civilization and the Greek legacy. That didn't stop me from getting a major headache due to confusion, though.

Chiron said that even by hero standards, I was exceptional. They said that I had been brought back from the future to fulfill my destiny in an upcoming war. Rachel said that the Greek god of the sun and prophecies, Apollo, would pretend to claim me as daughter so I could have a place at Camp Half-Blood to start my training. I was to play an important role in something called the Great Prophecy. And they also said that, in truth, I was nothing but a mortal. Not a single drop of godly blood ran in my veins, and I didn't belong at camp. This was to be kept secret to ensure my safety and made sure I was part of the quest to Rome. The prophecy had said "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call" not "Six half-bloods and a mortal from the future shall answer the call".

Oh, I know you're probably wondering right now: 'Wait... what the heck happened to Peeta?'

Well, I'll tell you what happened. He was locked in an unreachable underground dungeon and being tortured to death by some crazy, hybrid chicken women.

Just kidding. Ha.

But, he had been sent to the Big House, a red building that was, well, _big_, to wait for Chiron and me. I found out that Peeta had not been expected at Camp Half-Blood; that Apollo had only meant for me to come. Chiron hadn't known what to do with Peeta, and it all had been an accident he was transported back in time with me. That didn't really matter, though, because he was my responsibility now. I wasn't going to let the poor guy get hurt or taken away again. He didn't deserve it.

Chiron lead me to a wide clearing with strange assortment of buildings. There was on made out of pure silver, one with plants and flowers blooming around it and a grass roof. One made out of plain gray stones stacked on top of one another but was literally GLOWING with an odd purple light. My jaw dropped. There was no _way_ this could all be real.

Chiron noticed my expression and smiled. "These, child, are the camper's cabins," he said proudly. "Each represents a Greek god, and you are placed in the cabin depending on your godly parent. There used to be just twelve for the Olympians, but now, thanks to Percy Jackson, our camp has grown."

"So... which cabin would I be in?" I asked easily, "You said I had to pretend to the daughter of Apollo right?"

The centaur nodded. "Yes, but you will fit in perfectly. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Apollo has told me that your archery is excellent, and you can also sing, too."

I shuffled my feet along awkwardly.

_What an invasion of privacy..._, I thought.

But gods were gods, and they saw everything from heaven. Is it called that in Greek? Oh wait, it was called _Olympus _, which was apparently floating on the tip of some tall building in the Capital. You couldn't really hide from them.

So I just nodded my head and replied, "Sort of. Should I go join the campers now? What cabin are the Apollo kids in anyways?"

Chiron pointed to a cabin adjacent to the silver cabin, but this one was pure gold. "Cabin Seven, for the children of Apollo," he told me, "But, Katniss, I think it is best if you stay with me for the rest of the day. Apollo hasn't 'claimed' you yet, and we need as many witnesses of the event as possible. Perhaps tonight, at the campfire sing-along. It's quite enjoyable actually, and many campers have been claimed then."

Okay. Why not? "So, where to next?"

The old centaur trotted off in the direction of the archery range and beckoned for me to follow. "It's time to see what you are capable of," he said.

• • •

Percy~

If I had thought becoming an instant celebrity with screaming mobs of crazy fan-girls chasing me around was fun, I had been sorely mistaken.

First, I had woken up on the shore of a beautiful beach and my first thought was, _Where's Annabeth?_ I couldn't afford to lose her ever again.

Then, I had followed a crowd of children to an assembly, found out what the Hunger Games were, and crazily volunteered for a wonderful fight to the death against twenty-three other tributes. I don't know what made me do it, but something told me that this was the right thing to do. Apollo wouldn't have entered my name into the reaping ball for nothing.

After that, I was mobbed by a pack of girls screaming "Marry me, Percy!" and "Can you autograph my face?", loaded onto a train, and shipped off to a place called the Capitol, where the Hunger Games were held. By that time, my hair was messed up and disheveled worse than usual, my t-shirt was torn in several places, and my face felt violated from about a million cheek-kisses from girls. The only thing I cared about at that moment, though, was Annabeth. Where WAS she? Had Apollo broken his promise and decided not to let her come with me after all? He had never sworn on the Styx, so I had my suspicions.

Something else I was concerned about was the fact that everything I had with me relating to the mythological world had vanished. My emergency bag of ambrosia was gone, and Riptide, when uncapped, was still just a pen.

A note was attached to Riptide, saying: In the future, the Greek legacy has been forgotten. All ties you have to our world will be severed, including your weapons and extra powers. Good luck!

Well, how moral-boosting was that? However, it wasn't really going to be a problem because I still had my sword fighting skills and Annabeth had her wisdom. We would be okay.

Still not sure about the "we" part, though. I was worried sick about Annabeth. I just hoped she would have figured out that we needed to participate in the Hunger Games in order to start a rebellion. It would happen in the arena, televised for the whole world to see, I guessed.

On the train, I was properly introduced to the female tribute from my district, a shy girl named Fresca, my "manager", a short woman with green hair, and my mentor, a seriously, way better good-looking guy than me in his late twenties. He had bronze colored hair and perfectly tanned skin. His name was Finnick Odair.

The train barreled its way through the districts and the countryside. I didn't really have anything to do, and being ADHD, I couldn't really sit still for a long period if time, so Finnick suggested we go and watch the recaps of the reapings. Fresca, him and I gathered into a compartment and Finnick flipped the television on. The recaps started with District One first, and I saw two gorgeous looking tributes take the stage. The boy was named Marvel, the girl Glimmer. They both had full lips and golden blonde hair, like Annabeth, but their eyes were the same color blue as toilet water.

Um, bad comparison?

The two commentators of the recaps (both dressed like guests at a bad, mismatched costume party) were also complimenting the two tributes beauty, and then they moved on to District 2. "Interesting turn of events here at District 2 today," one of the emcees said, "Let's go check this out, shall we, Caesar?"

The man on his left wearing midnight blue robes nodded cheerfully and said, "Right you are, Ronus!"

They switched shots to a depressing, harsh looking district. A man with shockingly purple hair called out the name of the male tribute, Triston something-or-another. And then the female tribute from District 2 was... Annabeth...

MY Annabeth.

I was about to cry out in relief before their announcer asked for volunteers. And then I got worried again. What if someone else took Annabeth's spot in the Hunger Games? I didn't think I could face those Games without Annabeth by my side.

A burly blonde boy named Cato volunteered in place of Triston and took his place onstage. Someone volunteered for Annabeth, too, and I clenched my fists.

_No_, I thought, _This can't be happening_.

The girl's name was Clove. She marched up onto the stage and shoved my girlfriend out of the way, taking her spot.

By this time, I was ready to load Clove in a human catapult and shoot her all the way across Panem, smack dab into the middle of District 12, the farthest District from the Capitol.

But then I heard the Purple Sonic the Hedgehog ask, "Annabeth Chase, will you step down?"

And that's when I grinned. There was no way Annabeth would surrender her spot in the Hunger Games to a stuck-up snob like Clove, even if Annabeth had to tackle her in front of the whole district. Asking her to step down was like asking her to jump off a cliff. It's like she felt the same urgency to compete like I did, and I had a feeling Apollo was behind it. It was going to be our last piece of guidance on this quest, and then we'd be on our own.

Just like I predicted, Annabeth's eyes hardened and she refused.

Things looked like they were going to get ugly as Clove yelled in outrage and charged at Annabeth.

I instinctively drew Riptide from my pocket as if it could still change into a sword and as if I could defend Annabeth from the other side of a television screen.

She had it all taken care of, though. All I saw was a blur of bronze and heard a _TWANG_ of a blade impaling itself into wood. I realized that Annabeth had thrown her dagger right at Clove's feet, and it was still quivering. In the background I could hear Caesar and Ronus both give a gasp of delight.

"_Well_," Caesar said to us viewers, "It looks like this will be a _very_ interesting Hunger Games for District Two. May the odds be ever in your favor, Cato Leerman and Annabeth Chase."

The rest of the recaps went by ten times faster, except for the part when I volunteered as a tribute for District 4. It was weird, seeing myself glorified onscreen like I was Johnny Depp or all five guys of One Direction, with half of the girls in the front row swooning. It didn't really help my ego.

After the recaps were over, I went and took a short nap in my compartment, my heart less heavy with the fact that I would be seeing Annabeth soon. In less than three hours, we finally arrived at the Capitol.

As soon as I stepped out of the train, I wanted to shut myself right back in, lock the doors, and go back to District 4. The first thing I saw was a body hurtling itself at me, but it wasn't Annabeth. If it hadn't been for years of learning how to trust my instincts and think fast, I would have flattened into a Percy-pancake by the crazy fan girls. I kind of felt bad that she had landed face first onto the tiled pavement, but as I surveyed the area, I knew this wouldn't be the last.

Dozens of girls were crowding around District Four's train, holding up signs like "_Percy Jackson is the new Finnick Odair"_ or "I 3 PERCY"or "MY NAME IS MRS. JACKSON" or "PERCY JACKSON= _Hot Stuff_".

I realized that not everyone here was looking for me though, which was a relief. As my mentor stepped out from the train, a round of ear-splitting screams erupted from the girls. Finnick Odair, too, was a very popular celebrity in the Capitol.

That was cool and all, but I had only come here to see one girl. I pushed my way through the crowd and a few Peacekeepers and emerged into open air. Earlier, Finnick had told me to report to the Training Center, a big building that housed the twenty-four tributes before the Games began. There were twelve floors, one for each district. So, being from District 4, my crib would be on the fourth floor.

I tried not to run as fast as I could in the lobby, which was tough, seeing as there was a crazy mob if girls trying to hunt me down and another girl I really wanted to see just a few floors away. I reached the elevator and jammed my fist on the button labeled "2". The doors closed, and the elevator slowly ascended two floors. With a small DING, the doors slid open and I was in District Two's quarters, alone.

Completely alone.

Maybe Annabeth's train hadn't arrived yet, or maybe she was still outside being revered by Capitol citizens. Either way, she wasn't here, and I didn't want to break any more rules to go and search through the rooms.

I walked back to the elevator feeling dejected. I was about to head back downstairs when I thought I should take a quick look at my temporary home, check it out a little bit. It beat returning to the insanity of fame, anyways. I shrugged and pressed the button for floor 4.

The elevator took me up another two floors, but this time, when the doors opened and I stepped out, the stormy expression on Annabeth's face made me want to jump right back inside and go down to the lobby. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she glared daggers at me.

"How did you-?" I yelped.

"I watched your elevator," Annabeth said, still not dropping her gaze or missing a beat, "Only you would go to District Two's apartment then come up here." She pointed to a screen above the elevator door that showed which floor it was on and whether it was going up or down. Ingenious.

Neither of us said anything for a minute. Then-

"So, have you gotten engaged with anyone yet?" Annabeth asked casually, but there was a sort of deadly calm to it.

"Annabeth, I-"

"I saw plenty of 'Marry me, Percy!" posters down there," she continued blandly, "Have you made up your mind yet, Seaweed Brain?"

I grinned at her. "Yeah. I have."

She raised an eyebrow, obviously not expecting this answer from me, "Which will it be, then? The girl with overly large pink hair and a caked up face or the girl wearing seven inch stilettos and a-"

I had no idea what she was going to say next because,I was tired of waiting. I pulled her towards me and kissed her. She was so familiar to me, with her lemon scented hair and silver owl earrings. She was all I needed.

When we finally broke apart, I put on my trademark sarcastic, trouble-maker smile, my eyes gleaming. But I'm afraid I might have mistaken my _Hey_, _its_ _all_ _cool_, expression with my OH MY GODS, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME FOR INTERRUPTING YOU expression. Annabeth noticed and laughed, and it was the best sound in the world. I was so glad to hear it.

She inclined her head towards the elevator. "We should get going," she said, "Some Capitol style freaks are giving us makeovers in a half hour." From the look she wore when she said that though, you could've sworn her actual words were: _A_ _skunk just cursed my mentor with a healthy dose of stunk bombs_, or _Cato is rolling in the manure again_. It was a look of absolute disgust.

I was kind of disappointed when she turned and gave me the same look.

"What?" I asked defensively.

She pointed to a spot on my right cheek and looked away, covering her eyes. "I think you have a few red lipstick stains on your cheek left over by a psychotic fan girl, Seaweed Brain. I suggest you might want to _wash them off now_, before I _notice them_ and have to _kill you_."

And this is why I love Annabeth Chase.

• • •


	4. I End up on Every Capitol Tabloid

Annabeth~I End Up on Every Capitol Tabloid

It never occurred to me that waxing my legs would hurt so much, but they did raise my threshold of pain a few feet higher. And that was pretty high, right next to holding the sky.

After my prep team trio got me down to Beauty Base Zero, which was some dumb phase where the victim (me) is completely toned down and "naturalized" (i.e no makeup, freshly combed hair, and un-prickly legs), a stylist named Cornelia what's-her-face came to work on my costume for the Opening Ceremonies.

She was a fairly nice woman with blue hair in a bun and kind brown eyes, skinny and short. Cornelia helped me dress into my costume, and I had to admit it was brilliant.

I was wearing a suit of shining golden armor, golden fingerless gloves which where studded around the base if the wrist, golden chain necklaces, golden gladiator sandals, and a glimmering golden tiara. Cornelia braided my hair into a fishtail and then plaited it with-you guessed it-more gold. She drew a thin layer of black eyeliner around my eyes and then applied some heavy, sparkly-golden eye shadow. I tried not to recoil at her touch because I sincerely hated makeup, but it was hard. For the final touch, my stylist covered my lips with a mahogany-colored lipstick and dabbed a little bit of blush onto my cheeks. Then she spun me around so I could see my reflection in the mirror.

The first thing that came to my mind was: _Wow, Capitol Stylists really do know how to work some makeover magic._( Expect for the Aphrodite girls. They once cornered me with makeup and a dress at camp. It turned out that _Seaweed Brain _was behind it for revenge. But that's a different story.)

My 2nd thought was: _Where is Annabeth Chase in this mirror_?

I couldn't help but gasp at Cornelia's flawless outfit. Not only did I look stunning, but I also looked fierce, hostile, forbidding. Even the makeup made my face look a lot more tough, not girly, and the tiara, too. With all of my golden gear on, I looked like I had done all of my shopping at a King Midas clearance sale.

I've had heard that the costumes reflect the district's job in Panem, and District 2 was a military district. All of its citizens were trained Peacekeepers-the country's soldiers-or Peacekeepers in training. Hence, the armor, gladiator sandals, and all the golden stuff. Gold universally symbolized victory.

_No wonder they had such an unfair advantage during the Hunger Games,_ I thought bitterly.

They were better paid, well fed, and more healthy than the other districts. All in all, though, Cornelia had done her job well.

"Well?" she asked me, nervously biting her lip, "How is it?"

I critically surveyed myself through the mirror with a feeling of utter disbelief.

"Oh, Cornelia," I breathed, "It's beautiful."

The stylist in question smiled and said, "Thank you, Annabeth. Now that you're done here, let's go meet up with your fellow district tribute and get ready for the Ceremonies."

I nodded and followed her out of the door, taking one last look of myself behind my shoulder. Dang, she was good enough to make me go vain.

The next half hour or so was a blur, with my mentor, a woman named Enobaria with literally golden teeth, explaining the procedure of the Opening Ceremonies:

There would be twelve chariots, one for each district's tributes, riding along an outdoor track packed with Capitol fans.

It was kind of like a big parade, similar to the one on New Year's Day. The whole thing reminded me of the chariot races back at Camp Half-Blood, except that it was just less brutal and fun.

"Since we're from District Two, our chariot will be going second," Enobaria told Cato and I, who were dressed similarly. "Don't wave. Don't hold hands. Just look straight ahead and put on your best I'm-going-to-pulverize-and-murder-every-single-tribute-in-that-arena face. The crowd will love it," she promised.

Then she wished us good luck and sent us into a waiting room right behind the massive doors leading to the track. The chariots were all hitched and ready to go, so most of the other tributes were already there. I wasn't surprised when I saw our horses were golden.

Since I didn't really want to be alone with Cato, I wove my way around the horses and chariots to try to find Percy.

There he was-talking to his extremely handsome (but will-never-be-as-handsome-as-Seaweed-Brain mentor.) He seemed to be giving Percy and the girl tribute some last minute instructions. They nodded, and their mentor strode out of the loading room.

Percy's eyes scanned the room, apparently searching for something, and they eventually landed on me. If possible, he was dressed even weirder than me. He was wearing a simple black jumpsuit with thick invisible wires coiling around him.

A sea green cape trailed off behind him, depicting a digital animated image of ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore, which I thought was pretty creative. His hair was still as ruffled and windswept as usual, but on his head he wore a crown of blue coral, sort of like a wreath. I remembered that District Four had to do with seafood and ocean-related products, so it made sense that Apollo would land Percy there.

I waved at him from all the way across the room and smiled, but he quickly averted his gaze and said something to his district partner. The girl looked confused but she nodded, and Percy disappeared among the chariots.

What...?

I made my way over to where she was, leaning against her district's chariot in a strained casual way. It was obvious that she was hiding something, so I got straight to the point.

"Where did he go?" I demanded, shooting her a glare, "What did he tell you?"

The girl looked at me with a bored expression.

"The Great and Almighty Jackson is currently unavailable right now. Would you like me to leave a message?"

If it weren't for the sound of trumpets announcing the start of the Ceremonies, I really would've followed Enobaria's advice and given the girl my best I'm-going-to-murder-and-pulverize-you-in-the-arena look.

I rushed back to my chariot, which was getting in line behind District One.

Cato rolled his eyes at me and hissed, "You better not mess this up, Chase, or the Career Alliance is off."

I was too dazed and hurt to ask what he meant by that, and I unwillingly glanced back at Percy, two chariots away.

He met my eyes but pretended to be busy fiddling with a button of sorts on his costume. He switched it on, and the thick wires that were swirling around his outfit suddenly lit up with a shimmering bluish-greenish light. I stared at it for a second longer and realized that they were supposed to look like rings of flowing, glowing water, completely engulfing Percy. That, along with his cape, made a perfect costume, and I silently congratulated his stylist for being such a genius.

The enormous doors right in front of District One's chariot swung open, and away they went onto the track. My eyes popped open in shock. The audience in the stands was HUGE, all right. They could've filled at least a half a dozen Times Square's on New Year's Eve with a few left over.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, presenting your tributes from District One: Marvel Sparks and Glimmer Jewels!" a voice boomed.

The screaming and shouting of the fans deafened me, and soon Cato and I were rolled out on our chariot for all to see.

"Your tributes from District Two: Cato Leerman and Annabeth Chase!"

I remembered my mentor's orders:

Show no love towards the crowd. Be tough. Be forbidding. Be someone they and the other tributes wouldn't want to mess with. So I looked straight ahead with a hardened expression, and Cato did the same.

The rest of the Opening Ceremonies went by pretty fast after that. All I could remember was that as District Four's tributes were announced and appeared onto the track, the screaming of the audience got ten times louder. Especially from the girls, those crazy fangirls. Oh, gods. I wanted to give each and every one of them my deluxe evil eye and shout,

"HELLO! He's MINE!"

Two other stunning tributes were the ones from District Twelve. As their names were announced, they rode out on their chariot wearing a simple black suit along with a cape and crown-that were literally on fire. I could hear the audience's gasps ten chariots ahead, but the thing that made ME gasp was the fact that I recognized the name of the girl tribute, who was only twelve:

Primrose Everdeen.

_EVERDEEN._

I remembered the girl Percy and I had switched with was named _KATNISS_ Everdeen, and I was willing to bet that this was her little sister.

A sad realization hit me-Katniss had volunteered in place of her sister, and that was how she ended up in the Hunger Games. I was sure of it.

And right then I swore to myself that Primrose Everdeen would make it out of that arena alive. How, I had no idea. But I would make things work.

After the chariot ride came a particularly long and droning speech from Panem's president, President Snow, about the long history of the Hunger Games, blah blah blah... It was almost as boring as listening to Mr. D rant and complain about how much he hated us campers.

When President Snow finished, our chariots returned to the loading room and the tributes were free to go back to the Training Center. I was planning to corner Percy then, but he pretended that he didn't see me when I accidentally (okay, purposefully) bumped into him. Our eyes briefly met, but then he looked away and mumbled, "Sorry." Then he was gone.

_What was going on?_

I clenched my fists, trying to figure things out when I noticed I was holding a piece of paper in my hands. Huh, how had it gotten there? I unfolded it and read: Γνωρίστε μου στον τελευταίο όροφο σε δέκα. Ανάγκη να μιλήσει.

(Translation: Meet me on the rooftop at ten. Need to talk.)

There was only one person who could have written this, and that was Percy. I doubted anyone else in all of Panem knew Greek, anyways. I stuffed the note into my pocket and went to find out what Seaweed Brain was up to.

The elevator slowly ascended past the twelfth floor and onto dropped me off onto the roof of the training center. I was glad I had changed out of my costume and was now wearing a big red hoodie over a t-shirt and jeans, because a cold wind blew outside. My hair, still in a braid but coming apart in wisps, fluttered in the breeze. The rooftop had a fantastic garden with hundreds of species of flowers, from daffodils to dark red roses. It looked just like the one surrounding the Demeter cabin back home at camp, without the chocolate bunnies. (It's an inside joke.)

I scanned the area and finally found Percy, standing on the opposite end of the rooftop, so close to the edge I thought the wind might blow him over. He had changed, too, and was now wearing an orange t-shirt and khaki shorts. I guess it reminded him of Camp, and the thought made me sad.

"Percy!" I yelled, and this time he responded.

He turned, smiled, and held out his arms. It made me temporarily forget to be mad at him.

"Oh, no, you don't Seaweed Brain," I called, shaking my head, "Step away from the ledge. Do you _WANT_ me to push you off the building when I give you a flying tackle hug?"

He laughed. "Whatever you say, Wise Girl."

He took a few steps forward, and that was good enough for me. I ran to Percy at full speed, gave him a tackle that would made NFL fans scream, and we both hit the floor of the roof, grinning. Percy picked himself up and offered me a hand, which I took gratefully as he hauled me up.

"So, are you still mad at me?" he asked me, still smiling.

"No! I mean, uh, yes! What did you want to talk about? Why were you avoiding me at the Ceremonies?" I replied, anxious to hear what he had to say.

Percy's green eyes grew dark, and he sat down on the rooftop, patting the spot next to him. I took the seat as he started to explain.

"Look, Annabeth, first of all, I'm really sorry for trying to ignore you at the Opening Ceremonies. You looked gorgeous", he said.

"Does that mean you don't think I'm pretty without makeup?" I teased.

He blushed bright red and I laughed.

"Scratch that then. You _always _look pretty", he replied.

"Thanks. Your stylist must be amazing. But I'm guessing you had a good reason for avoiding me?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

Percy looked nervous but he managed a nod, "Yeah. It's just that... I... I kind of realized that I can't be your boyfriend anymore. At least, not in the this time period."

If I hadn't been so stunned I probably would have slapped him. I couldn't comprehend what he was saying.

"So you're... _breaking up_ with me?" I asked, biting my lip to keep from screaming at Seaweed Brain. What in Hades did he think he was doing?

Percy's eyes widened and he shook his head so hard I thought it might fall off.

"Gods, Annabeth, never," he told me, putting an arm protectively around my shoulder, "But I can't be seen around you anymore, because I'd never want anyone here to be able to use you as leverage. If they found out you were my girlfriend, they would go after you just to get to me. I can't put you in danger like that." Percy looked away.

I blinked.

So, no break-up, my befuddled brain thought intelligently. Good. But still, not being able to be with my boyfriend was going to be hard. I knew that.

So I set my chin and asked him defiantly, "What if I said I don't care?"

Percy didn't miss a beat. "I do. I've lost you twice already. What if, for the third time, it was permanent? What if I lost you forever, and it was all my fault? I'm not going to let that happen. Ever," he promised.

And I knew that he meant everything he said. His fatal flaw was loyalty to his friends, but Percy had never let that stop him. I guess that was one of the things I liked best about Seaweed Brain.

I nodded. "You're right. In the Hunger Games, we can ally ourselves and give us an excuse to be together. Just nothing romantic before."

My boyfriend looked relieved that I had agreed with him so easily. I could tell he had been expecting a fight when he raised his eyebrows and said, "Wow, that was easy. Since when did you give in so-"

"Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain. Just give me one last kiss before we're officially 'friend-zoned'." I grinned, leaning in-and then abruptly shot back, startled, as loud, blaring music came from below.

What...?

I scrambled to the ledge of the rooftop to see what all of the commotion was all about down on the streets, Percy by my side. There was a ginormous crowd gathered at the base of the building adjacent to the Training Center, and they were all staring up at a huge television screen. Panem's national anthem was playing, booming out from mega-sized speakers, and their logo flashed onscreen. Then, it switched shots to a female reporter with wavy, silvery hair, and it looked she was the host of some sort of reality show or news broadcast. Sure enough, she immediately launched into report on this year's Hunger Games after she greeted the audience. "Griseyla Porsch, reporting live from the Capitol here, folks! After the exciting events of today, the seventy-fourth Hunger Games are guaranteed to be filled with action, bloodshed, drama, and romance!" the host boasted.

Okay, I could understand why there would be the first three, but romance? This lady was off her rocker.

"We are already starting to see some today!" she continued, "Check out this shot captured earlier today on film right here at our very own Training Center!"

And then I watched as Percy's plan to protect me at all costs shattered apart into a million tiny pieces.

The shot showed Percy and I in District Four's apartment, kissing. We broke apart after a few seconds and laughed. I didn't feel like laughing now. How on _Earth_ had they gotten that video clip of us?

I looked over at Percy and saw that he had gone rigid all over, pale as Nico diAngelo. He seemed to realize what that clip meant for both of us. I turned my attention back to Griseyla Pork Chops as she batted her eyelashes dramatically and put her hand over her heart.

"Yes, viewers, those two lovebirds you just saw were none other than the gorgeous Percy Jackson of District 4 with the mysterious Annabeth Chase of District 2. Who is she really, and what is she trying to do?"

I really felt like smashing my fist through the television down below as I answered her question silently in my head.

_I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, veteran of the 2nd Titan War. And right now, all I want to do is to find the producers of this stupid reality show, haul them up 12 stories tied to a chair and throw them off the building, followed by EVERY SINGLE DARN CAMERA IN PANEM._

• • •

Peeta~

Getting transported back in time to a beautiful summer camp with my eleven-year crush was fun. Getting nearly turned into a sea mammal by a god dressed in leopard prints? Not so much.

Some half-goats, half-human guys (I later found out they were called satyrs in Greek mythology) had escorted me to a building called the Big House shortly after Katniss and I had arrived at Camp Half-Blood. They had told me to sit there and wait for their camp director to speak with me, and that was all. The satyrs hadn't even decided to stick around and give me some company, so I was all alone. Not to mention totally lost.

I drummed my fingers on the porch table as I watched a few campers wearing orange t-shirts play a sport called volleyball with the satyrs. They were pretty good, I guessed, their accuracy and timing perfect.

I wished Katniss was here with me, because I had a feeling she would know what to do. She was good in a crisis, but unfortunately, my crush had been lead away by a man-horse dude. (What was he called again... a centaur?) Seriously, I wouldn't have been surprised to find out if any more campers were half-donkey or something. I understood mostly everything Chiron had told me about the Greek world coexisting with modern civilization, but it was still a shocker to me.

While I was waiting for this so-called camp director to arrive, I suddenly realized that I was so, so tired.

Taking a nap in the afternoon sun on a beautiful day didn't seem like such a bad idea...

I dreamed that I was in a dark cavern. Hissing laughter echoed off the pitch black walls as I turned a full circle, disorientated. Where was I?

"PETER MELLARK, the voice said, and it felt like a knife scraping against rock, "_HELLO_, _LITTLE_ _HERO_. _TIME_ _HAS_ _SERVED_ _YOU_ _WELL_, _HASN'T_ _IT?_ _AND_ _NOW_, _BEING_ _MY_ _GRANDSON_, _IT_ _IS_ _TIME_ _FOR_ _YOU_ _TO_ _SERVE_ _ME."_

"I... I don't know what-that's not my name-" I stammered.

A person stepped out of the shadows. He distinctively looked familiar...

"Fat chance," the new voice growled, and I gasped when I heard how much it sounded like mine, "I don't serve any fool who eats his children and barfs them up years later, thanks! You can go die in a hole-oh, wait, been there, done that already, haven't you?"

"_YOU DARE_-"

"Oh, yes, I do! And you know what else I dare to do? There was a sound of a blade being unsheathed.

That was when I realized that person was… me! But then, I was standing right here. And there was my other voice coming from over there. Gosh, I was getting a headache just thinking about it.

"_NO_!" the owner of the evil voice screamed, "YOU SHALL NOT DEFY ME, CHILD-"

"Watch me," the other me shouted. "For Olympus!"

"_NO_!" The evil voice screamed again in rage and suddenly I was falling.

Two things burned before my eyes as I fell: The number four, and just below, something that looked like a curved sword. A scythe.

I woke up staring into the bright green eyes of the girl with red hair, Rachel, I think. She was looking at me with a scared expression on her face, and I noticed then that a large ring of kids was standing around me, twenty different weapons drawn, from a sharp double bladed dagger to a M14 rifle.

And they were all pointed at me.

Okay, not good.

But the scariest thing was the man standing right behind Rachel. He was pretty flabby and was wearing a loud leopard print shirt, but his purple eyes glowed with a dangerous light, the kind only a powerful god could have.

"Peeta Mellark," he growled at me murderously, and I instinctively leaned back before I could stop myself. "I should turn you into a dolphin and slaughter you for your incompetence, great grandson of Kronos."

• • •

**A/N: So, how was it? Not too confusing we hope? And thank you guys so so so much for your awesome reviews, keep it up! We love you! -Sarah and Vivian~**


	5. I Earn My Rep--As the Bad Guy

**A/N: Here's Chapter 5! Sorry for taking so long to write it, it took lots of research! Okay, so I'm going to stop ranting now and let you read. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Happy reading guys! Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games: credits go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!**

Peeta~I Earn My Rep-As the Bad Guy

Twenty sets of deadly weapons were pointed straight at me, ready to kill at a moment's notice, the Greek god of wine was about to possibly turn me into a sea mammal or make me go insane or both, and I had just had the most confusing, terrifying dream ever.

So…

It was a total relief when Chiron the centaur arrived from out of nowhere with Katniss on his back, a quiver full of arrows slung over her shoulder and a bow in her hand.

Even in my about-to-die-situation, my heart still managed to do a few jumping jacks in my chest.

Her hair was braided as usual, she had an old hunting jacket on, and she was actually _smiling_ for once. That was a rare thing for Katniss, but every time she did, she looked a thousand times more beautiful than she already was.

Then, she saw me, and she made a face.

Oh, well. Tough luck.

"Mr. D!" Chiron exclaimed, galloping over to my table, and the campers made way for him. "What in the name of Olympus do you think you are doing, terrorizing our young guest-?"

Dionysus's eyes literally glowed with outrage. "This little BRAT, Chiron, is no longer a guest at camp! He has been set up here by none other than the Titan Lord with revenge in mind. Peter Mellark"—he said my name as if he were spitting it out—"is the great grandson of Kronos. It is not safe to keep him here at camp, so I think it'll be best if we just get it over with and kill him."

The wine dude turned back to me.

"Now, where was I, son?"

"You were about to spare my life, I think. And actually, it's Peeta. P-E-E-T-A." I replied automatically. Man, words were definitely my thing.

Katniss shot me a weird look as she hopped off of Chiron's back and stood behind me for support, which I felt grateful for.

"Look, Diony-Mr. D," she stammered, "Peeta hasn't done anything wrong. Why would you blame someone for their ancestor's actions?"

"Girl, you are talking about Kronos here, the King of the Titans, the one who nearly overthrew Olympus TWICE, the one who sent his monster of a Typhon after the gods and crashed me into the Appalachian Mountains! I almost never achieved a perfect Pacman score because of him! This boy of Kronos is a serious threat to the safety of my camp, and I will NOT have him stay here with plans to destroy it!"

One of the campers to my left muttered to another, "Since when had Mr. D ever referred to this camp as 'his camp'?"

"Don't worry," the other camper whispered back, "He still hates us all."

"The feeling is mutual."

I looked at Dionysus in utter disbelief and got up from my chair.

"Mr. D, please listen," I told him calmly, holding out my hands in a sign of peace, "I don't know what's going on exactly, but I'm not here to destroy the camp, or anything else. I just had this weird dream, and I don't even know what it's about. Can we take things a little more slowly? There's been a misunderstanding."

The camp director eyed me with a wary suspicion. "That wasn't charmspeak, but even you have me convinced, brat. And your patience! Yes, that was one of the Titan Lord's most popular traits, being the Lord of Time and all. Which only goes to show that you are a descendant of Kronos-no one could be as persuasive or patient as him. Oh, he was SO good with words."

I could detect a hint of jealousy in Mr. D's words, but he did a good job of hiding it. Suddenly, I realized something for the first time and I turned to the campers.

"Wait..." I asked, "How did you guys know about my dream?"

Rachel spoke up.

"That was me," she said, "I guess we haven't been properly introduced. I'm the Oracle of Deplhi, Speaker of Prophecies, but sometimes I can see into other people's dreams, too, especially when they're meaningful or connected to a bigger picture, like yours. The scythe in your dream is the symbol of Kronos, while the number four represents the generation, therefore making you his fourth descendant, or great-grandson."

"Sure. Makes a lot of sense."

The red haired girl sighed.

"Sorry, it's probably pretty confusing for you right now. I-" she doubled over as if she had been punched in the stomach.

"Rachel!" I exclaimed, hurrying over to her the same time as some other campers and Katniss. They helped her onto a chair as her eyes started to glow a brilliant green color. Seriously, what was up with Greek mythology glowing eyes?

"Are you okay? What's happening...?"

I trailed off, my breath cut short as Rachel lifted her head and looked straight at Katniss and me. When she spoke, it was in a creepy monotone voice, and it also gave me an impression that there were three Oracles talking at once.

_"MORTAL, HALF-BLOOD, AND ENEMY SHALL TRAVEL WEST,_

_TO FIND WHAT IS LOST IS THE ULTIMATE TEST,_

_THE GIANT BREAKS FREE FROM THE CHAIN,_

_MADE FROM BLOOD AND SWEAT AND PAIN,_

_DARKNESS FALLS ONTO THE RIVERBED,_

_TWO OF THE THREE WILL BE LEFT FOR DEAD."_

Rachel-or the Oracle, whatever-finished speaking and the glow left her eyes. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes a few times and asked us,

"So, what was it?"

The campers looked at each other nervously. I was feeling a bit nervous myself-no, not nervous. The word was nauseous.

Rachel seemed to notice this, too, but it only made her want to know more.

"Well?"

Chiron cleared his throat, "Perhaps we should discuss this matter in private, Miss Dare-"

All at once the campers gasped, and I could see why.

Katniss, who was standing right next to me, was being engulfed in a bright golden light. I fought the urge to yell out, but as the light died down, I saw that she was unharmed.

Unharmed-but, well, transformed.

Katniss was now holding a solid golden bow, and though the quiver on her back was still made of worn out leather, the arrows were golden with Celestial Bronze tips. She was wearing jeans and a white cotton t-shirt under her hunting jacket that read in black letters: It's Quest Time! (Which was a bit weird). Her face was clean with all the grime washed off, her hair neatly braided again. A golden symbol also burned above her head, depicting a bow and arrow, ready to fly.

"The symbol of Apollo," a camper to my left also holding a bow and arrow breathed, "She's my half-sister!"

Chiron's eyes narrowed. "Rachel, Katniss, Peeta," he said, "You three, follow me. There is a lot to discuss, and we do not have very much time."

He cantered off. Rachel, Katniss, and I exchanged glances anxiously. Then, simultaneously, we got up and ran after the centaur, the last line of the prophecy still ringing in my ears.

_TWO OF THE THREE WILL BE LEFT FOR DEAD._

Chiron, Rachel, Katniss and I gathered into the rec room around a ping pong table, but we weren't here to play table tennis. The mood was dark, solemn, and I wondered which one of us would be the first to break the silence. It was a good thing Mr. D wasn't here to make things even more hectic, though. Chiron had told me that Dionysus had been spending less and less time at Camp Half-Blood ever since Zeus closed down Olympus, and that was fine by me because I had already reached my death threat limit for today. Tomorrow, maybe, I'll empty out my inbox and we could start over again with those.

Not.

"So, uh..." I said awkwardly, "Sounds like we're going to have to go on a quest, huh?"

Chiron nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. "That is correct, Peeta. Katniss is already a member of the quest, as Apollo has made obvious." He inclined his head at her t-shirt, and Katniss looked like she noticed the big block letters for the first time. She raised an eyebrow but the only thing she said was, "I'm in."

Rachel had her chin in her hands as she mused over the words of the prophecy, "The mortal, half-blood, and enemy. Katniss, you're obviously the mortal, even if you're pretending to be claimed by Apollo. There's nothing that you can hide from the Oracle, really. The half-blood could be anyone at this camp or Camp Jupiter. And as for the enemy..."

She, Chiron, and Katniss turned to me, and I instinctively held up my hands defensively.

"I get it. I'm in the enemy. I'll go," I said, "But can at least SOMEONE explain to me what my dream was all about?"

Rachel bit her lip nervously. "Well, what you were seeing in your dream was something that had happened in the past-actually, it's in the future for us, but that doesn't matter. Years after Kronos was defeated in the Second Titan War by Percy Jackson, he was very, very weak. And still, Titan's can't die any more than gods do. So, Kronos had barely enough strength to do much, but one thing he could and did do was possess the body of a mortal man, named Parker.

"Kronos did not fully take over the man's conscience, but he was only living inside of Parker, seeing through this mortal man's eyes. He made sure he chose him wisely, because this man was being married in several weeks. Then, during the wedding, Kronos used the last of his reserved power and almost fully took over his host's body. It lasted up until they had a child, a boy named Peter. Then, Kronos left the body of the man and returned to Tartarus to slowly gather up strength. The poor mortal man was never the same again, going insane and muttering things about the past, present, and future.

" But now, with his 'child', Kronos would swear vengeance on Olympus and send Peter to Camp, where he was sure he could make Peter work for him and destroy the whole place. It didn't work, though."

I felt like Rachel's green eyes could see right through me, and I knew what was going to happen next.

"Because Kronos underestimated Peter," I continued. "Peter wouldn't be tempted so easily just because he had the Titan Lord for a father. He was afraid Kronos would possess him like he did with Peter's mortal father, so he..."-I gulped-"killed himself. Sacrificed himself for the camp. He's my grandad." I remembered the voice that sounded so much like mine yelling out in the name of Olympus, and then Kronos screaming in rage.

The red headed Oracle nodded her approval. "That's what I guessed. I've been having dreams of my own, too... But back to the quest. Peeta, you're definitely coming along. I have a feeling you're going to be essential to this quest in some way, even if the prophecy says that you are an enemy."

Katniss pursed her lips. Man, she was cute even then.

"That's two down, then. How are we going to know who's the demigod? And how are we going to know what to do or we to even go?" she asked Chiron, "The prophecy wasn't exactly straightforward."

That was a good point. I didn't have a clue what Katniss and I were supposed to do on this quest. But I took a stab at it anyways.

"Well, we have to travel west, right?" I reasoned, "That's what the first line says. And we also have to find and retrieve something that's lost, too. But what's this about a giant and a chain...?"

Chiron's face grew dark, and I had a feeling he knew exactly what lay in store of us on this quest. I was just afraid to ask.

"This is a very dangerous quest, children, even by demigod standards..." he said wearily, "This giant, the one I have a grave suspicion you will have to face, he is not one to be reckoned with. He was killed early on in the first Giant War, but that was because the gods got lucky, especially Hermes, who was the one who took on this giant."

"But who IS this giant?" Katniss demanded, "What's his name?"

The old centaur looked grave. "His name is Hippolytus, my dear."

Rachel gave a gasp of recognition.

"Hippo... as in a hippopotamus? As in, the swamp-dwelling, tourist-eating creature that has teeth the size of my arm and weighs over three tons?" I asked.

Hey, Greek mythology wasn't exactly my strongest subject.

Rachel shook her head thoughtfully. "Not exactly, Peeta, but sadly, it's a lot worse than that."

"I wouldn't want to meet anything more dangerous than a hippo. Heck, I didn't even _know _there was anything mode dangerous than a hippo until today," I remarked.

"Well, now you do," Katniss said darkly, turning to Chiron. "What exactly makes this giant special, though?"

Chiron said gravely, "Hippolytus, you mean, is an exception to the giants because of his odd immunity to the Sacred Metals, such as Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and even Stygian Iron. This means that he cannot be harmed by any weapons forged out of those metals.

"Naturally, mortal metals couldn't hurt this giant either, so Hippolytus seemed to be wholly invincible AND immortal. The gods knew they couldn't defeat him with the usual weapons so they sent Hermes, the god of speed and travelers, to find a new kind of metal, one so rare no human eyes had ever set upon it.

"This kind of metal was called Tartaric Silver, and it could only be found in one place..."

We glanced at each other, and I knew that we all already the answer.

"Tartarus," all four of us said in unison.

"So Hermes went to Tartarus to retrieve the Silver from the very bottom of the pit," Rachel continued after a moment of silence, "It took him weeks, and he was so weakened by the encounter that he could only bring up enough slab of metal to forge one human-sized sword. Hermes brought the Tartaric Silver up to Hephaestus, the god of the forge, and Hephaestus created a sword out of it. Hermes then returned to the war in his mortal form and fought Hippolytus with the sword, and this time he was victorious. Since he couldn't kill the giant with just one sword, Hermes ordered all the gods to fashion a large chain out of their blood to contain Hippolytus because the giant was also immune to the gods' powers. He was chained under a boulder near the Tiber river, and when Western Civilization shifted, the giant moved, too.

"The Greek myths still say today that he was KILLED by Hermes, but in truth, the gods kept him alive to see if they could figure out the secret to his immunity and convert into to their own uses. And besides, no one finds the Silver in Tartarus twice, not even the gods, so Hermes couldn't retrieve more of the metal to kill Hippolytus." Rachel sighed,

"Right after Hippolytus was imprisoned and chained, though, the Silver Sword went missing. Lost, maybe, but rumor says that it was most likely robbed, right under the nose of the god of thieves. Only a very clever Giant could have done that, and now they have risen again. Hippolytus will return to the aid of his brothers very soon, but this time he will be unstoppable. I'm guessing you guys will have to go and find the sword and use it to finish off Hippolytus once and for all before he rises completely."

She finished, and I felt like my brain was going to explode from information overload. It was a lot to take in all at once for me, and I could tell Katniss was stunned, too.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a girl with light brown hair and blue eyes came barreling through the doors of the rec room. She was panting, out of breath, but there was a devilish grin on her face as if she had just successfully lighted someone's pants on fire, and my jaw dropped.

I recognized this girl.

"Chiron!" she yelled, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face, "Help! Travis and Connor are being chased by a screaming mob of girls right now! They somehow got one of the Aphrodite kid's love potions rubbed off on them-" the girl stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me.

Then I realized that she wasn't staring at me, but she was staring at Katniss. Katniss was staring right back at the girl, both of their eyes wide with disbelief and shock. I probably looked the same, too, because I KNEW this girl. I had seen her around District 12 and even around school.

Madge Undersee was somehow part of the past, too?

• • •

Percy~

Nothing like a televised kiss to a whole country to ruin all of your plans of protecting the girl you love in a deadly arena, you know. I felt like I was going to be sick from guilt as I watched my plans go up in flames on the big Capitol screen. No one had told me about the hidden cameras in every corner of Panem.

This was not going the way I had wanted. But then again, I'm Percy Jackson. Things NEVER go the way I want them to go.

Annabeth and I had quickly retreated from the rooftop and went back to our respectable lofts after the show because there were news helicopters flying all around. I didn't need to give them anymore Capitol drama, thank you very much.

I was lying with my arms behind my head on my warm, fluffy bed, but I couldn't get any sleep. There was nothing I could do to keep Annabeth from danger now that the whole country knew about that scene. Yep, we were basically screwed, all right.

I didn't remember drifting off to sleep at some point, but I did remember all of my dreams-or, nightmares, I should say.

Annabeth being stabbed in the back. Annabeth being pushed from a high perch tree. Annabeth being tossed into a river and drowning. Annabeth being choked and suffocated by Cato. Annabeth being thrown into a pack of mutts. Annabeth being burned to death by a raging fire. Annabeth dying in some way in that arena because I couldn't have kept my emotions under control that afternoon.

And it was...

All.

My.

Fault.

• • •


	6. I (Naturally) Make Some New Enemies

**A/N: Hey there readers! So we've been recently getting some awesome reviews from you guys, and you do _not _know how much this means to us! Every time we see a new review, it makes us smile. Like, seriously, you light up our worlds like nobody else. (Um, sorry, One Direction is currently stuck in our heads). But really, we love you all!**

**We added an O/C in this story, and we hope you'll find it interesting! Here's extra long chapter for you guys this week, enjoy!**

**-Sarah and Vivian**

Percy~ I (Naturally) Make Some Enemies

I knew I was in for a rough day when I woke up to the smell of burning pancakes at six fifteen in the morning. I straggled out of bed with a horrible case of bed hair and shuffled into District Four's living room, yawning. Finnick Odair was already up making breakfast in the kitchen, but I guess that was only thing he wasn't good at. There was a blackened pile of pancakes on a plate, some on the countertop, and some that were even stuck to the walls. It looked like the pancakes had decided to start World War III inside of the kitchen, and it wasn't pretty.  
I stated at him, mouth agape. "Uh, Finnick?" It was probably the most un-Finnick-Odair-Official-Heartthrob-of-Panem-like thing I had ever seen him do.  
He turned toward me, and even in pajama bottoms and a sweater my mentor was seriously good-looking. Plus, his hair was perfect, as usual, unlike mine. "Morning, Percy. Want to help me make breakfast?" he asked with a grin as blinding as Apollo's, and it made me want to put on a pair of sunglasses. "It's usually a job for the Avoxes, but I decided to give the poor guys a break today, with them working twenty-four/seven and all. And besides I need to really improve my culinary skills, anyways."  
You've sure got that right, I thought as I critically eyed the pancaked-walls. But I had to smile as I said, "Sure, Finnick. Let's start with something easier, okay?" I was tempted to add, "Like, for example, Cheerios," but I guess that wouldn't exactly qualify as "cooking". So, I decided on: "We can make some scrambled eggs and toast. Nothing can go wrong with that, right?" I said harmlessly.  
Ha.  
A half hour later, Finnick and I were sitting on stools of a high table, safe and completely unharmed. Well, that was if you didn't count our singed shirts from toaster burns, the million bits of egg shells in our hair, and the totally exhausted look on our faces along with some smears of butter. We had fought a losing battle with spatulas, spoons, butter knives, salt shakers, and egg yolk all morning long. Finnick had sneezed so many times from the pepper that I had lost count around fourteen. I had accidentally knocked a batter of pancake mix into a frying pan where I was cooking eggs, so now the whole place smelled like a weird mixture of cookie dough. Yeah, District Four was not home to any Gordon Ramsay's.  
The only good thing about our little bonding time over cooking? Finnick never mentioned anything about Annabeth and I on television. I hoped he hadn't seen the show at all, but he was just probably too polite to bring it up. After all, the mentors do attend a party celebrating the start of the Hunger Games at night, and some of the filming had been done there.  
My poofy green-haired manager and Fresca still hadn't woken up yet, so it was a good thing Finnick and I only managed to produce a meager platter of sort-of-scrambled eggs and half-burnt toast. I scraped off a burnt layer of the bread with a knife, sprinkling blackened crumbs onto the plate, and broke it off into halves. I handed a slice to Finnick, and he raised an eyebrow.  
I shrugged. "I think it's the only safe thing to eat out of all the things we failed to cook today," I explained simply.  
He laughed, and raised his bread like he was offering it to the gods. "A toast, then, to our terrible culinary work on breakfast this morning."  
I did the same and replied, "A BURNT toast, you mean."  
"Exactly."  
We bit into our bread, and I guess it could've been worse. I could almost detect a hint of butter in it, so that was a good sign for us. Maybe Finnick and I weren't total failures at cooking breakfast after all-not.  
I grabbed another piece of toast after I had helped my mentor clean up most of the place (keyword here: MOST) from the recent food war and headed out the door. "I'm going to head up to the rooftop to get some fresh air, man," I told Finnick, "I'll be back at ten for the Training, don't worry, so just give me a call if you need anything else. Er, except for help on cooking. That's out of the question." He nodded his assent, and I grinned back. The elevator doors closed on me and it began to rise all the way up to the top of the Training Center. I had discovered this floor yesterday when I stumbled upon a small button labeled "roof" before the Ceremonies. I thought it was pretty cool that the roof had it its own personal garden-and that it was security camera-free. Mostly, though, I just needed a break to breathe in some fresh air, clear my mind, and figure out what to do next.  
Turns out, Annabeth had already stolen my idea.  
She was leaning against the railing and looking out over the Capitol skyline, a cup of steaming hot chocolate in her hand to counter the morning cold. The wind blew her hair to the side, but she had it up in a ponytail with a few loose strands hanging down. She still had on her hoodie and she had traded her jeans for sweats, but even I could see the tired look on her face from here. I had a feeling Annabeth had gotten about as much sleep as an insomniac last night, which I would've preferred a hundred times more than having nightmares.  
I silently walked over to where she was and stood by her side, clutching the piece of toast in my hand. "Hey," I greeted as I tore off a chunk of the bread and stuffed it hungrily in my mouth. Making breakfast takes a lot out of you, thanks.  
Annabeth turned her head to the side for a quick glance at me, and then looked forward to the ground way below again. Then she lifted her head and abruptly turned back at me to get a second look, staring.  
"You look like you were attacked by a fire-breathing baby hydra that licked your face after it hatched out of its egg, making it rain bits of the shells everywhere," she murmured as she gave me an up-and-down survey, "What happened to you?"  
"I could say the same for you," I said, concerned, "What's wrong?" I didn't dare to ask her "Are you okay?" or "Is everything all right?" because I knew there was an obvious answer to both of those, and that was, "No". Hey, you learn after nearly five years of experience.  
Annabeth shivered in the cool air despite her warm hoodie and sweat pants. "You first," she told me, and I knew this wasn't just about my messed up hair and clothes. I had a feeling that she also knew that I hadn't slept well last night, either.  
I shrugged. "Well, for starters, I can explain why I look more terrible than usual today-I helped Finnick Odair cook breakfast."  
"The victor of the sixty-fourth Hunger Games doesn't know how to cook his own meal? What's up with that?"  
"Traditionally, in the Districts, the men are trained more in hunting and fishing then they are in cooking. Housework was supposedly more of a woman's job-"  
"Why, those sexist pigs," Annabeth snarled.  
"-But for the Hunger Games, Finnick DID know how to cook his food. It was a necessary requirement for survival in that dangerous arena. The difference is, though, Finnick was used to cooking meals over an open flame out in the wild for the Games, which usually involved sticking a piece of meat on a stick and slowly roasting it on top of the fire. This morning, we were in a kitchen with actual pots and pans, seasonings, spatulas... those kind of things. So, yeah, the first ever Rebellion of the Breakfast Foods took place in our kitchen, basically."  
My girlfriend smiled, and I was glad to see that. It made her look a thousand times more beautiful than she already was. But she then nervously tucked a stray lock of her blond hair behind her ear and asked, "So, what do we do now?"  
"I wish I knew," I sighed, looking out at the pale blue sky, "I just-I don't know... It's all my fault. I don't want you to get hurt in the Games. Or ever, for that matter."  
Annabeth looked like she wanted to punch me as she rolled her eyes and said, "Seaweed Brain, if you keep on taking the blame for every little thing goes wrong in our lives, I promise I will seriously judo-flip you again until you finally swear to stop being modest."  
I bit my lip and looked away, down at the cars that were speeding by below us, polluting the environment with their burning of fuel, clouding up the sky so no stars would shine. Somehow, it made me remember Zöe Nightshade, a hunter of Artemis who had died a couple years ago on a brave quest to free her leader. I had been there when she had been bitten and poisoned by a hundred-headed dragon and also when her father, Atlas, had delivered Zöe her death blow. I failed to save her from death, but she had been turned into a new constellation in the sky as a blessing from Artemis, depicting a Hunter running among the stars.  
And then Zöe's death reminded me of Bianca di Angelo, who had also died on the same quest. We had been fighting an enormous automation warrior in the desert when Bianca had daringly volunteered into infiltrating the inside of it to try to control the giant. And I let her.  
Bianca's plan had worked, but in the end the automation had fallen over into a set of electric lines and been fried-with the young Huntress inside. I could've gone in her place...  
And then there was Charles Beckendorf, a brave demigod of Hephaestus who had died on a mission to blow up an enemy cruise ship harboring a whole army of monsters. I had been there with him, and I had abandoned him when I-  
"Percy," Annabeth commanded, "Snap out of it. Don't go beating yourself up on things you can't change."  
I shook my head and blinked a few times, "Sorry."  
"You better be apologizing to yourself, Seaweed Brain," was all she said.  
We stood in silence for a while, gazing out over the Capitol. The morning fog was starting to lift; the sun was breaking through the clouds, casting a ray of golden light over the rooftop. I remembered Finnick telling me to report downstairs at ten o'clock for Training with all the other district tributes, and I figured it was almost about time.  
I finished my "breakfast", hesitated for a second then asked Annabeth. "Should we go back down to the Training Center together, or...?"  
She pursed her lips. "I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe we should wait for this whole thing to blow over, but in the meantime, try not to bring it up and we'll see if anyone else does." She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, and headed to the elevator, clutching the mug of hot chocolate in between her hands. I wanted to say something else-anything, really-but somehow I couldn't find the right words.  
I didn't have to. Halfway to the elevator doors, Annabeth stopped and turned to face me. "Um, Percy?" she asked, and the expression on her face made my heart want to break into a million pieces. It was the same expression she wore when she was just seven and had run away from her mortal family, scared and lost. But it was also trusting, like the time when she had met Luke and Thalia and found a real family that would protect her-at least, for a temporary amount of time.  
I gulped, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. "Yeah?"  
"Thanks." Annabeth suddenly smiled, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.  
"For what?"  
"For protecting me."  
"Sure, and look at how well _that_ went..."  
"Just take the compliment, Seaweed Brain," she said, rolling her eyes.  
"Yes, ma'am."  
Still smiling, my girlfriend resumed walking back to the elevator, saying over her shoulder, "See you at Training then. I am SO going to cream you, so get ready."  
I smiled, too, as she got into the elevator, the doors closing on her.  
"We'll see about that, Wise Girl."

The Training Room at the base level of the Training _center_ was basically a fully indoors version Camp Half-Blood, compressed into one huge 500 by 500 feet gymnasium. It had several stations like camouflage, knots, and archery scattered off to the sides and various obstacle courses. It wasn't ten yet, but most of the other tributes were already there, gathered in a tense circle around our trainer, a tall, athletic man named Atlas. (No, he wasn't the evil Greek Titan who was trapped on Mount Othrys under the burden of the sky, thank the gods.) Atlas waited for the rest of the tributes to arrive before starting to explain the rules of Training: basically, we could visit any station we wanted to, per our mentor's instructions. These would help improve our different survival skills in different fields, from fire starting to one-on-one combat. The session would end at one o'clock, with a short lunch break at noon. There would be these sessions everyday until the evaluations by the Gamemakers, which was in a little over a week from today, and each tribute was given a score from one to twelve depending on how potentially dangerous he or she was. So, the higher the score, the more of a threat that tribute posed to the others, but that didn't necessarily determine the actual victor of the Hunger Games or increase the chances of someone winning the Games. You never know what can happen in that arena.  
After that, Atlas dismissed us, and the tributes were free to go to whichever station we wanted. I decided to go to the swordplay sect first, just because I felt like it was the one thing I could be familiar with. It was a large area with a many practice dummies hanging from the low ceiling and a rack holding a wide assortment of deadly swords, all made out of common steel, naturally. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth head over to the Edible Plants and Roots station, and I figured it was probably the smarter move compared to mine. But still, I was curious as to how my lesson would go and how good of a sword fighter these other District tributes were. Maybe I could get a feel of their fighting style and use it as an advantage against them in the arena.  
As I had hoped, there was already another tribute waiting for his expert to start the lesson. He was the burly, muscular blond boy from District Two, Annabeth's partner. A Career, I had heard Capitol citizens call them, a tribute that was from District One, Two, or Four and always formed an alliance during the Hunger Games. They would pick off smaller prey, and when everyone else was dead, the remaining Careers would turn on one another and fight to the death. The victor was almost always one of them. Bingo.  
When the blond boy-Cato, I think-saw me approaching, he gave me his signature sneer and regarded me from behind narrowed eyes. He put his hands on his hips and stuck out his chin, and he instantly reminded me of some of the sons of Ares, the Greek war god. They were not very pleasant people, I can tell you that firsthand, and Cato didn't really seem like a charismatic, end-hunger-for-children-in-Africa-charity-supporting person either.  
I did my best to stare him down, considering the fact that he was nearly two heads taller than I was and probably a lot more ripped than I would like to admit, too. Maybe he wasn't a son of Ares, but Cato sure did look like one.  
The instructor gave each one of us a quick excited glance and rubbed the palm of his hands together enthusiastically. "Hello there, tributes. Today we will practicing some basic sword fighting moves to get you two started. Now, first-"  
"Excuse me, but I don't do 'beginners'," Cato snarled, grabbing a wicked looking curved sword from its stand behind our instructor, and brandishing it menacingly, "I already know how to sword fight well, so can we start with the more advanced techniques? No, here. Let me show you." He charged.  
The dummies didn't stand a chance. In less than two minutes, Cato had hacked, sliced, stabbed, disarmed, and disemboweled his way through the mannequin army using a whirlwind of amateur moves that looked fancy and impressive to everyone else. I frowned. I finally had figured out what this guy's purpose was here, that show off. You could take out an enemy with simpler, more effective moves.  
The blond tribute finished and pretended to wipe his forehead, his sword impaled dead center in the last dummy's heart. Smirking, he pulled it out and began to polish the sword silently with the hem of his flannel shirt, the same one all of the tributes wore with their district number stitched onto the back. Cato sneered at me again, and that's when I noticed something: the dummy that he had stabbed last looked a lot like a certain girl I knew, one with curling golden hair and stormy grey eyes. I directed my gaze upward to my new enemy, and he whispered to me so only I could hear, "We'll kill you both, you filthy lovebird traitors." That's when I knew Cato had gone too far.  
A wave roared in my ears and quick as lightning, I snatched up a sword that looked creepily like a steel version of Riptide from the rack and easily disarmed the boy of District Two, using the very first swordplay move I had been taught by Luke Castellan.  
The curved sword flew out of his hand, clattering to the cold tiled floor. That had never felt so good to hear that sound.  
I realized that everyone had gone ghostly quiet. Cato was glaring at me with an expression of absolute hate and fury, his jaw dropping. Our instructor was looking back and forth at the two of us, a mixture of awe and something else that was unreadable on his face. Annabeth, as usual, seemed to understand the situation right away-I could see that with the look in her eyes. I met her gaze and hoped she got the message: _I'm sorry, but not now_. All of the other tributes were whispering behind my back, saying things like-  
"He made it look so easy."  
"That's probably the first time that happened to Cato."  
"Did I just see-?"  
"Apparently, yep."  
"Who _is_ Percy Jackson?"  
"Doesn't seem like the Career type, does he?"  
I didn't care though. If there had been a dummy that looked like Cato at that moment, I probably would have run Riptide's look alike through it too, but unfortunately for me, there wasn't. So, I settled for gently hanging the sword back onto the rack, mock bowing to my so-called instructor, and walking back to the elevator doors of the Training Room with all eyes on me, saying over my shoulder, "Pray that the odds be ever in your favor, Cato Leerman, because you're going to need them to be once you cross paths me in that arena."  
I slammed my fist onto the button marked "4", and the doors closed as the elevator rose higher and higher, carrying one very ticked off son of Poseidon along with it. And that was only an understatement.

Katniss~  
As soon as I saw my best girl friend walk-or actually, run-through the doors of the Rec Room, I knew that my world was getting seriously screwed up.  
Madge Undersee was the daughter of my district's mayor, a girl that was better off than most people there in Twelve, but she was not, by any means, a demigod, half-blood, etc. Chiron had said that Greek legacy had been forgotten in my era, the future, so that would've been impossible. But there she was, plain as day, panting and out of breath as if she had just run from the Capitol to here. When Madge or whoever that girl was saw me, she immediately gasped.  
"You," we said in unison, "You're my best friend."  
Then we looked at each other in confusion and both said, "Wait, what?"  
"You go first," the mysterious girl said hastily, "Do you, um, recognize me from somewhere?"  
What? It's me, Katniss! You're Madge... right?" I asked, taken by surprise.  
The girl face-palmed then crossed her arms over her chest. "Really!" she said exasperatedly, "Why does everyone think it's okay to call me Madge? The name is Maggie! M-A-G-G-I-E. I don't need any nicknames; my two half-brothers have given me enough, thank you!"  
"So you're not from the future?" I asked, now totally confused.  
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm not from the future! I'm Maggie Kay, daughter of Hermes, fifteen year old. I've never time-traveled before, F.Y.I."  
The girl, Maggie, might have looked exactly like my best friend, but she certainly didn't _talk _like Madge, I thought. "But you're my best friend-at, least you look just like my best friend from the future."  
From the bewildered expression on her face, Maggie looked like her head was going to explode from confusion. "Um, that's... weird, I guess. What's up with all this futuristic talk? And, hey, are you two newcomers? You, and that boy over there staring at me like I'm an alien from outer space?"-Peeta's jaw dropped and he started to protest, but Maggie plowed on-"Like, I'm so sorry if you're not new here, but I don't think I've seen you at camp before, have I?" She turned to Chiron and fired another volley of questions at him, "Chiron, what's going on? Why is everyone acting so freaked out about my appearance? Is something wrong? Did Travis and Connor draw on my face again? Oh my gods, if they did, I'm going to have to kill them-"  
The centaur held up a hand to stop her mid-sentence, and it was like magic when Maggie's mouth immediately clamped shut. "Miss Kay," he said calmly, "Please, have a seat. I assure you that your brothers haven't vandalized your face, as you may have thought. And as for their current situation about the love potion, we will have deal with that later-"  
On the other side of the huge window in the rec room, I saw two twin boys pounding on the glass, shouting at us inside for help. They were being completely mobbed by what looked like half the girls at camp, and both of the twins had numerous red lipstick stains on their cheeks, their sandy brown hair overly tousled, and girls pulling on the sleeves of their shirts. The shorter one seemed to actually be enjoying all of the attention a bit as he grinned, but the taller of the two glared at Maggie through the window, pointed at her, and mouthed, _I'm _so_ going to kill you, sis_. Maggie laughed evilly-she could totally pull it off-and stuck out her tongue at the boy. What a nice, loving family.  
"So," I asked uncertainly, eyeing the screaming girls, "Do we still deal with that later?"  
Chiron sighed warily, defeated, but there was this little twinkle in his eye as if he was used to this kind of mischief. "Rachel, would you mind enlisting the help of a few Aphrodite children who haven't been intoxicated yet to see if they can put a stop to the effects of the potion? I'm afraid Connor and Travis may be, ah, _seriously injured_ so to speak before it wears off."  
The red haired girl nodded and got up from the table, "No problem, Chiron." She threw me one last glance, and I got the message. Maggie was it, all right. I didn't have to be an Oracle to know that she was going to be the last member of our quest, the demigod. She was connected to this, all of this, in a way. I just had to find out how.  
Rachel quickly left to assist the twins, and Maggie sat down reluctantly. Taking his time, Chiron _slowly_ explained everything to the daughter of Hermes, starting from the time Peeta and I arrived at Camp Half-Blood, right up to the point when she burst in. He looked to me for confirmation on his very last point, and I nodded.  
"And, so, Maggie Kay," Chiron told her solemnly, "YOU are the third and final member of this quest. But I must warn you that many dangers lie ahead of you, some that you have never been trained to face at camp. This is even more life-threatening than the Second Titan War you fought in, Miss Kay. If you will choose to withdraw, which you have all the right to do so, you leave with no shame. I fear that I am asking too much from you, child."  
Maggie was silent for a minute or two. Then, she stood up defiantly and said to all of us, "I accept, Chiron. I choose to undertake this quest to find the Silver Sword, and I will finish my father's work and finally make him proud." Her ten-second serious expression broke as something else dawned her. "Oh, shoot! That means I need to go pack! Back in fifteen!"  
Maggie sped out of the Rec Room faster than Paul Revere on a rocket.  
The centaur looked grave as he watched Maggie go, but he put on an encouraging smile and said to Peeta and I, "Come, children, we will go wait for her on Half-Blood Hill. Argus is packing your bags at the moment, and he is nearly done. It is time to get this quest started."

Chiron and Rachel-who had settled the love potion crisis-were waiting to see us off on our quest as we all stood on the Hill overlooking the strawberry fields. Down below, Argus was waiting in the van to take us into the city, and that was where we would begin our journey. After he dropped us off, Peeta, Maggie and I were on our own.  
Travis and Connor, Maggie's two half-brothers, were also present to say goodbye. While they were still pretty stoked at her for spraying that love potion all over their bunks, the twins still gave her a hug each and wished her good luck. Maggie grinned, and they exchanged something called and fist bump. She was having a conversation with Rachel and giving her a hug when one of the twins came up to me.  
"Hey," Travis or Connor said nervously, I couldn't tell which one, "Can we talk? There's something I need to show you."  
I shrugged, figuring it couldn't do any harm. "Sure," I replied, "Fire away. But first, is this Travis or Connor? I can't tell you two apart."  
The twin looked nervously behind his shoulder, then turned back to me and said, "It's Travis. I'm a little taller than my brother, Connor, but that's about the only difference we have, though. I wanted to give you this..." Travis pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment held together by a rubber band from his pocket. He unfastened the band from the scroll and it unraveled, revealing a map of a huge country. Little silver dots were marked on the map, each one labeled with a city, state, and address. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what this was for, and Travis explained.  
"See, this is a map of the United States," he said patiently, "I guess this might be a little confusing for you, since you're from the future and all, and I'm sorry about that. But there's something you should know-my dad gave me this map a couple days ago, and he said that I needed to wait for the right person to come so I could deliver it to her. He told me about the Silver Sword, and how he had not only found out that it had been stolen, but it had been destroyed as well. Shattered, broken, whatever you want to call it. Anyways, Tartaric Silver blade of the Sword was broken into several fragments, and they've been scattered all across America. They're represented by the silver markers on the map, see? When you've found all of the pieces of the blade, the location of the hilt will be revealed, and from there you will find a way to reassemble the Sword."  
The concept formed in my mind, and I nodded. "I get it. But why are you being so secretive?"  
Travis looked sort of surprised by that question, like he hadn't really noticed that he was being fidgety. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, Dad said I shouldn't mention the fact that he visited me because Zeus ordered Olympus to be closed down, you know? The gods aren't supposed to have contact with the demigods anymore, especially they're own children. So... can you do me a huge favor and pretend that you've found it, or something? Or maybe you can say that you had a dream about this quest and woke up with this map in your hands? Gods, I would be so grateful if you did. I don't want to get my dad in any trouble, he's got a lot to deal with."  
"Why didn't you say so before? Of course I'll keep it a secret!" I said, holding out my arm for a traditional handshake, "Thanks a lot, Travis."  
But the son of Hermes looked like I was offering him a dead fish. "Huh?" he asked, extending out his fist. "You want to, uh, shake hands?"  
I rolled my eyes. "Obviously. What did you think I was going to do with my hand, slap you?"  
Travis recovered quickly and laughed. "Oh, sorry! It's just that people in this time period don't shake hands that much anymore. It's mostly for adults." He said the word "adults" as if it were some kind of crime, but he shook my hand anyways.  
"So what do people do these days? Wait-oh," I said as I remembered the weird bumping of fists Maggie and her brothers had exchanged. "How does it go, like this?" I mimicked Travis and held out my fist, my thumb facing the ground, and tentatively nudged his. That looked about right, I thought.  
"Hey, you're not so bad," Travis said, grinning, "And you're welcome, I'm happy to help. Keep my sister safe, will you? She's got a knack to go looking for trouble."  
I smiled back. "No guarantees, but I'll do my best. Nice meeting you, Travis."  
"You too, Katniss. Good luck on you're quest, and-"  
Connor appeared from nowhere to his brother's side wiggling his eyebrows at me and grinning mischievously. "-go kick some giant butt for us!" he finished. I smiled and thanked him, too, giving him a fist bump.  
I went on to say my goodbyes to Chiron and Rachel, and I passed by Maggie along the way. She grabbed my arm with wide eyes and asked me in a low voice, "Were Travis and Connor actually _nice _ to you?" she asked incredulously.  
I shrugged. "Seems like it, yeah."  
Maggie blew out a frustrated huff of breath, "That's V.I.P. treatment from them, I'm telling you, bro. Tell me when you're ready, okay?" She gave her brothers, Chiron and Rachel one last wave and headed down the hill to meet Argus in the van.  
I reached Rachel first and she smiled brightly at me. "Hey, Katniss. We're all rooting for you back here, just remember that. Good luck, and good bye!" She gave me a big hug, and after a second's hesitation I hugged her back. They were hard to come by back home in District Twelve. These guys didn't know how lucky they had things.  
Chiron finished wishing Peeta good luck, clapped him on the back, and turned to me.  
"Katniss Everdeen. You have remarkable talent with the bow and arrow as you have shown me today, and I know it will take you far. I wish you the best of luck, my dear, and may the gods be ever with you." That last line sounded all too familiar, and it made me involuntarily shiver. But Chiron held out his hand and I shook it firmly. (Well... Chiron didn't count, I guess. After all, he was a three thousand year old trainer of heroes and was the kind of old-fashioned person who liked listening to _All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin_. Basically, the whole soundtrack was filled with a bunch of guys moaning in Italian, which somehow qualified as music.)  
It was weird though, because I had only known Chiron and Rachel for less than twenty-four hours, yet they had already seemed like family to me. For me, it was almost hard to leave them, but I managed to swallow down my anxiety and make my way down the slope to the van with Peeta. Maggie was all set, sitting in the back seat and tapping her foot nervously. Peeta held open the door for me, and I thanked him, meeting his sky blue gaze for a moment. Then I looked away shyly as I stepped inside of the van and took a while belting myself in. Gods, this was my first time riding in a vehicle as technologically advanced as one like this, so cut me some slack. When Peeta and I were finally ready to go, Maggie signaled at our driver, Argus, to take us out to a city called Manhattan, where we would be dropped off.  
Argus obliged and started the engine, and in half an hour we were traveling the long, winding roads of a city full of bustling trade and commerce. It had happened so soon, and the realization that I had left the only safe haven for me in this world hit me like a ton of bricks. This was the real world. This was where the things that really matter happened.  
Too soon, Argus was pulling up on a curb by a massive park-Central Park, Maggie had told me-and helping Peeta unload our belongings. That was when I noticed that he had numerous eyes dotted all over his body, so that he looked like one of those gigantic peacock plumes the really rich Capitol citizens would wear around the city to show off. Maggie whispered to me that our driver didn't talk much because it was rumored that he even had eyes on his tongue, which was kind of weird, I had to admit. She said that it was why he was our camp's official security guard, and that his motto was "I will keep an eye-or a hundred-on things". But still, Argus seemed like a nice guy, and he nodded, satisfied, when we were all carrying our duffel bags, ready to set out on our dangerous quest to find the Sword. Only one member of this trio would make it back alive to see him and the rest of camp again, I thought darkly.  
I tried to stay upbeat, though, as Argus got back into the van, getting ready to head back to camp alone. We were finally going to begin our journey and slay the giant Hippolytus once and for all.  
But the look in Argus's hundred eyes as he drove away didn't exactly reassure me. It was as if the security guard wanted to but couldn't say, "Good luck, kiddos, and try not to die-very painfully!"  
• • •

**A/N: Disclaimer- We do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Hunger Games! All credits go to their respectful owners. The only character we do own is the newly mentioned Maggie Kay, daughter of Hermes! So, how did you guys like her? And how was this chapter? Leave us your reviews and give us some feedback, we really appreciate it! Have a great day, and thanks for reading!**


	7. We Enter The Lair of Evil Bumper Cars

**Hey guys, first of all, let me just say this: words cannot describe how sorry I am.**

**I know, it sounds cheesy, and I'm sorry for that, too. I recently got caught on some tough times and, on top of that, I've had loads of schoolwork. I kind of neglected the fanfic, pushed it to the side, really. But now I'm back, and I promise I will have a new chapter up every week!**

**Second, I wanted to give a shout out all of my followers. You're a big part of the reason I'm writing this, and all I want is to give you a good story and make you happy. You're my inspiration. And I want to thank you for that.**

**Okay, now this is starting to sound like a speech. Ugh. I'm sorry guys, it's been a while, and all I ask from you is to give me some time to get back into my writing rhythm. I've broken through this writing block (finally!) but I just need a little time, okay? Thanks guys, Vivian (my super duper special editor 3) and I love you all!**

**-Sarah&mybeautifuleditorVivian**

**So…hey guys! It's me, the editor of this AMZAYN story. (ONEDIRECTIONER!) First year of high school is a pain in the butt, loads of homework from EVERYWHERE. So, anyways, here's the deal. Sarah is busy writing stories, and I wait for her to send me them. Meanwhile, for all our fans, please review! I usually check on the reviewers and read their stories so I can review theirs too. It's a good deal, eh? Worthy of Poseidon and Athena. Which reminds me: MARK OF ATHENA WAS AMZAYN. Though, I want to choke Rick Riordan for that horrible ending. I mean, I was reading it, and that one special part *SPOILER ALERT* where Percy grabs Annabeth, and I saw that the end of the book had very little pages left, and I was like, NOOOOO YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! House of Hades better come out fast in October, or I'll die of boredomness. Well, I better stop talking, and you should probably start reading. See you next week! Love you!**

**~VIVIAN&THISAWESOMEWRITERNAMEDSARAH 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or the Hunger Games. All credits go to the wonderful Rick Riordan (who better write the House of Hades fast if he knows what's good for him) and Suzanne Collins!  
**

Katniss~We Enter the Lair of Evil Bumper Cars

The first sign that our quest was going to go horribly wrong was the exploding bumper car.

Let me explain, take you back a little bit.

After Maggie, Peeta and I were dropped off at Central Park, I decided it was time to "find" the map that the Stoll Brothers had given me and start this quest in the right direction. So, I gasped and pointed at a nearby, ordinary-looking bush.

"Look!" I yelled to my two friends, "Over there!"

Peeta scrunched up his face, trying to see what I was pointing at by following my gaze, "What is it?"

"Don't you see? It's sparkling with a silvery light!" I exclaimed, rushing over to bush. Of course, that was a lie, but I had to do something to get their attention. I acted like I was searching for something and purposefully made the map fall out of my pocket.

Maggie's doubtful voice came from behind me. "Uh, Katniss? We don't see anything. Maybe it's a trick of the light."

I rummaged around the bush a little more, twigs scratching the sides of my arms. "Guys, I think I see something..." My fingers closed around the scroll and I pulled it out of the bush, triumphant. "Aha! Look what I found!" I cried, waving the map in the air a little too enthusiastically, "What do you suppose it is?"

Peeta had wide eyes and Maggie's jaw hung open. "Open it!" they said in unison.

I obliged, trying not to be overdramatic. No need to act like one of those stereotypical daughters of Aphrodite. I unfurled the map and pretended to scrutinize it a bit, frowning and knitting my eyebrows together as if I was trying to decipher what it all meant. My two quest mates crowded around me to get a better look, and Peeta said over my shoulder, "I can tell that's a map of some sorts, but what do the little silver markers represent?"

"A map of the United States, to be exact," Maggie elaborated as she stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck, being shorter than Peeta and me.

I passed on the map to her and she examined it carefully, "This was obviously sent to us by one of the gods to help us on our quest. Remind me to burn a few offerings to them the next time we have a meal."

"But we still don't know what this map is for though," Peeta muttered. "Why are all these locations pinpointed? What could possibly be there that would-OH…. You don't think... maybe some clues to find the sword?" he asked excitedly. I nodded.

"Well, we can find out now," Maggie said, pointing to one of the silver dots on the map and its corresponding address, grimacing.

"I KNOW the location of this one. It's only three blocks away."

"Are you SURE we're at the right place?" I asked Maggie fifteen minutes later, my mouth agape. I had expected the missing shard of the sword to be in some spooky, abandoned warehouse or something along those lines, but what stood before me now looked like it belonged in the Capitol, even for a city as-to be honest-strange as New York City.

We had arrived at the murky glass doors of a rainbow-colored building with faded pictures on the walls, which were depicting kids driving an odd sort of automobile and bumping into one another. The paint was peeling off in most places, chipped, too.

I looked upwards and saw that there were big light up words in capital letters attached right above the doors. Those read, "KOBE'S BUMPER CAR MANIA", and under that in smaller letters: "We will DRIVE you insane!"

_So that's what the weird vehicle was called_, I thought, _a bumper car_. It looked like it was used for purposefully crashing into other people's cars, and I was seriously starting to wonder what other weird things mortals these days did for entertainment.

Maggie checked the map again and nodded, making a sour face again, "Yep, this is it, all right. Kobe's."

"Have you been here before? You apparently don't like it here at all," I remarked as I eyed the run-down place warily. It wouldn't be my first pick for a hangout either, I guess, but I had a feeling Maggie had had a history with it.

Her expression darkened considerably, "Yeah, I have. But..." suddenly Maggie's face went slack, as if she was trying to remember something but couldn't. After a few tense moments, she blinked and shook her head, looking puzzled, "That's weird, I-I can't-Nevermind. It was something bad, though, so let's keep our eyes open and stay alert."

Peeta shrugged, "Well, then. We're about to find out, aren't we?"

He lead the way into the building with Maggie and I following, and it must have been the wind or something when the glass doors automatically slammed shut behind us.

I thought I had accidentally stepped into a wardrobe and gone to Narnia when I took a quick look around the place. Everything was rainbow colored and popped out like a clown's wig-the strings of multicolored lights, the walls, the little cars, the tables, the balloons, the streamers, you name it. My eyes hurt just looking at them. So, in my defense, it was the reason why Peeta, Maggie and I jumped when we were greeted by a dark haired guy in a red collared shirt tucked into jeans. Maybe it was because he looked so normal compared to the rest of surroundings, I don't know. He was barely in his early twenties-he appeared to be, anyways-and had a crooked but friendly sort of smile. I noticed that he had an engraved name tag pinned to his shirt, and it said: "Kobe." The guy waved us over and grinned, "Hey there, kiddos! Are you three guests at Daisy's party?" he gestured to a corner where a bunch of nine to ten year old kids were talking and eating cake at a table with a big banner over it that read "Happy Birthday, Daisy!".

"I'm afraid you're a bit late, though-they already cut the cake without you. There's still time for the bumper cars, though."

I hesitated and was about to tell the truth that we hadn't been invited to the party, but then Maggie beat me to it, "Yeah, we are."

I was going to shoot her a confused look, but I guessed that it would spoil her lie and I was curious to see where she was going with this. But then, the guy asked, "Excellent! What are your names?"

I thought Maggie was dead meat.

But my new friend just put on a confident smile and replied, "I'm Trish Birmingson. This is Aiden Graymark," she said, pointing at Peeta, "And she's Dana Daley, of course. Aren't we on the list?" Maggie nodded at me and lied without missing a beat, though how she got those names was a big mystery to me.

The employee looked taken aback, but he quickly smiled. If there were anything odd about three grown teenagers joining a party of fourth graders at a kiddie bumper car place, he didn't show it.

"Yes, that's right. I just needed to check, you see, because even though you were the last three on the list, I couldn't assume anything. It's bad for business, you know. Well, here you go."

He peeled off three "Hello, My Name Is" stickers from his clipboard and gave us one each with our respectable "names." I stuck mine onto my shirt and threw Maggie (alibi: Trish) a questioning glance. She shrugged and muttered under her breath, "It's a daughter of Hermes thing. Lying comes naturally to me-literally."

My jaw dropped. "No way! That's amazing! But you didn't have to bother, Argus packed us money. We could've paid to get in."

Maggie/Trish shook her head. "I know, but who wants to waste good money? I have a feeling we're going to need it later on during our quest. And besides, there's something not right with that party over there… There's like…something's off."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously but I didn't see anything wrong with the table of laughing kids. Still, maybe Maggie was onto something, and it couldn't hurt to find out what.

"Have fun, kiddos," Kobe said as he ushered us over to the party table, "Enjoy the cake and try not to kill each other on the bumper cars."

"Thanks, Kobe," Peeta told the man, but he just looked at Peeta, startled.

"I'm sorry?" the employee asked, pushing up his glasses nervously.

Peeta seemed to be equally confused. "Um, I was just thanking you for greeting us and all."

"No, no, no. What did you call me earlier? Kobe?"

"Yeah," Peeta bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Isn't that your name?" he pointed to the man's brass name tag on his shirt.

"Kobe" then got a weird, clouded look in his eyes, as if he weren't entirely all here. He glanced down at his name tag like he was barely noticing it for the first time, and his expression grew confused for a second.

"Yes..." he murmured, giving me an impression that he was in some sort of trance, "That is my name. Kobe. Yes."

The man's face cleared up a bit but he just walked away, muttering under his breath. "My name is Kobe, yes, yes, it's Kobe, or was it?..."

Maggie, Peeta, and I exchanged quizzical glances. What had that been all about?

We headed over to the group of kids and I wondered what they were going to say when they saw us. Those kids would surely not recognize us and tell the employees to kick us out immediately, and I leaned over and whispered to Maggie, "I guess that wasn't great planning on our part. They're not going to-"

Suddenly, a red haired girl who looked about nine and had a missing front tooth squealed and ran towards me, throwing out her arms.

I tensed up, ready for a full out fight-hey, I grew up in a hideously corrupt society where kids murdered each other on national television every year, I'll be the judge of my actions-until the little girl gave me a gigantic hug, probably cracking some of my ribs.

She pulled back and grinned. "Hi, Dana! I'm glad to see you today! You're just in time for the bumper cars!"

Around the table a few other kids smiled and waved at me, but I had no idea why.

I looked at my two quest-mates, bewildered, "Uh, that's... great? Bumper cars are a lot of fun, I guess. Do you know my friends here?"

I inclined my head in Maggie and Peeta's direction, and the girl laughed. "Of course, silly! She's Trishie the Fishie, and that's your boyfriend, Aiden!" Peeta gave some sort of strangled cough and Maggie seemed offended. She gave me a look that said, _Do I look fish?_

Another boy got up from the table and grinned up at Peeta. "Aiden! Come to the bumper cars with me! We already went once but we have another session!" he grabbed Peeta's hand and pulled him along to the track, and Maggie and I had no choice but to follow with a bunch of little kids at our heels. A bored-looking girl employee stood up, got out her keys, and unlocked the low door that lead to the track of bumper cars. The children swarmed her excitedly and rushed in to pick their cars. I eyed her nametag and gasped when I saw that it read "Kobe", too. What was up with this place? Was this some kind of marketing scandal?

I tapped her on the shoulder lightly and she turned. "Excuse me?" I asked cautiously, "But is your name really Kobe? Sorry, it just doesn't seem like a name that fits for girls."

The employee looked at me oddly, "My name isn't Kobe, it's Kelly-" Suddenly she got that same dreamy look on her face that I had seen on the employer who had greeted us inside the doors. She hesitated, and then said slowly, "No, my name is Kobe. That's right. That's my name..."

There was something seriously wrong with this place. As Maggie was passing by me to claim her bumper car, I grabbed her arm and locked eyes.

"We need to talk," I muttered to her, "Stay back with me."

I was going to round Peeta up, too, but he was still being held captive by the little boy, who had chosen a bumper car next to Peeta and was chatting nonstop with him, so I let him go. The mini gate closed in front of Maggie and me, but the red haired girl called to me across the track. "What are you guys doing-Trish, Dana?"

Maggie smiled back at her, "We're just going to go get a few drinks right now, Daisy, and don't you worry! And happy birthday, by the way!"

The music and the bumper cars started up, so Maggie and I sat down on a bench overlooking the track. "What's up?" my friend asked, watching the kids drive by past us. There was something hypnotic about their movements, even when they were crashing into one another...

I shook my head to get out of my daze and replied, "Maggie, you're right. There's something not right about this place..." I told her about the girl named Kobe and how she had reacted when I called her that. The daughter of Hermes looked thoughtful for a second, and I wondered what she could be thinking about. "Kobe, huh? That's weird, but it rings a bell somewhere. Kobe... Kobe. Hey, Kobe sounds a lot like-"

All of a sudden my friend went rigid all over. Her knuckles gripped the bench so hard that they turned white, and her face had gone ghastly pale. She knew something, I could tell.

"What is it?" I asked her anxiously.

But Maggie just shook her head and called to Peeta, who was actually laughing on his bumper car and crashing into the other kids. "Hey! Your name is Kobe, right?" she asked, though she knew fully well what his name was.

So it was a real shock to me when Peeta laughed and replied to her, "Yes! My name is Kobe! I am having lots of fun!"

"This isn't a time to be funny! Can I slap him?" I demanded but Maggie shot up from the bench and ran to the girl who I had talked to earlier.

"It's going to take more than a slap to wake him up," Maggie shouted over her shoulder to me, "And I just need one last thing..."

She skidded to a stop, panting, and the employee gave her a bored look. "What do you need, kid?" she asked in a monotone.

Maggie got right to the point. "How long have you been working here?"

"I don't know, girl. But for a long time. A _VERY_ long time."

That last sentence gave me the chills for some reason, but Maggie pressed on.

"And did you ever come here as a kid?"

"Oh, yeah. Every year, for my birthday."

"And... You went on the bumper cars, didn't you?"

"Of course! That's the main reason I used to come to this place! But now, it's only for work."

Maggie's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Your name isn't Kobe."

This time, I think she got the woman caught off guard. "It's not? I don't know... I think I remember..."

"Kelly," I interjected, "Your real name is Kelly."

"It is?" the employee looked less doubtful now, "Kelly. Yes, I DO remember it now. It was Kelly... Cooper."

There were no words that could describe how confused I felt at this moment. I nudged Maggie, "Will you _PLEASE_ tell me what's going on here? I think I'm lost."

She gave me the short and simple version. "Kobe, that name, I realized that it's short for Kobalos-they're Greek sprites. Troublemakers. Tricked mortals and trapped them here, too by messing with their minds on the bumper cars. Notice how Peeta was acting delirious when he was driving around in those cars? And when the kids thought we were actual party guests? The whole track is a mind trap, Katniss."

"The Kobaloi are also thieves. Basically, they're the absolute rivals of Hermes children, because once you come in here and try out the bumper cars; you're never going to leave this place."

Something else clicked in my head at that moment. The Kobaloi were also thieves... "So, Kelly," I asked, careful to be choosing the right words, "Have you Kobaloi been _hiding_ anything here? Maybe... something _shiny_? Or _silver_?"

Kelly's eyes widened, "How did you-I don't..." then her expression hardened, and I knew she was fully back and out of the long spell she had been put under, "You know what? The Kobaloi have been using us to protect this thing all along, I'm sure of it. I think it's time we gave it to someone who actually needs it."

It was Maggie's turn to be confused. "Protect what...?"

She trailed off as Kelly reached into her jean's pocket, and gingerly pulled out a something wrapped in a red velvet cloth. The cloth slid back to reveal a jagged piece of silver metal probably as big as my hand. It was gleaming in the bright fluorescent lights of the building, with not a single scratch or rust spot on the shard. I knew exactly what it was, and Maggie seemed to have put the pieces of the puzzle together by herself, too.

"Oh..." she gasped, "It can't be-No way! Is that seriously the... Holy Hermes..."

Kelly shook her head. "For years, those Kobalos sprites had been practicing some kind of dark magic on us, getting us to try to protect this one piece of metal. I don't know what it is, but they treated it as if it held the secret to the universe or something. It must be very special, though, because the Kobaloi made sure no one of us had it for two days in a row; it was always being rotated among the employees."

I frowned, "But where exactly _are_ the Kobaloi? Shouldn't they be working with you?"

"Yeah, right," Kelly scoffed, "They're too lazy. The only time they come to check up on us and make sure no one is slacking off is right before closing time, which is at seven o'clock. They lock up all the doors, tell the kids to come back next year to be brainwashed again on the bumper cars, and kick them out. They pickpocket most of the kids, but the real way these Kobaloi earn money is protecting this shard. Supposedly, their employer comes every night after everyone else is gone and pays the Kobaloi for keeping this thing safe. No one knows who he is, though."

Maggie and I exchanged glances again and I mutual understanding passed between us. The Kobaloi's employer had to be the thief, who had stolen Hermes's sword, I was certain of it.

"So, here," Kelly told us, folding the velvet cloth over the piece of Tartaric Silver and tossing it at us. I caught it, and she said, "Take it, I won't be needing it anymore."

"Thanks a million, Kelly," I replied, carefully placing the shard into my backpack and zipping it up. Maggie added, "Now, we're going to have to rescue Peeta and get out of here..."

Kelly and I both turned to stare at her.

"That's it?" I asked, "We're just going to grab Peeta and leave? Shouldn't we at least try to help these guys under the spell? Maybe we can even destroy some of the Kobaloi and free all of the people under it when their dark magic dies with them. After all, there's still five minutes until seven."

The daughter of Hermes grinned evilly.

"Katniss, girl, I thought you'd never ask."

She rummaged through her pack for something and finally produced a sort of flat, circular object that was wrapped in aluminum foil.

Kelly wrinkled her nose, evidently confused, "Uh, you're going to defeat the evilest, sneakiest creatures of Greek mythology with a Ding-Dong?"

"This isn't a Ding-Dong!" Maggie cried almost indignantly, "Behold, the one-and-only GFM, or Greek Fire Mine. Basically, it's your traditional Greek-fire-in-a-jar combined with modern warfare technology, and you get this! Leo, one of the Hephaestus guys, tried flirting with me, ew, rediscovered this design from his brother Beckendorf-who died in the Titan War-and decided to rebuild it. The original model was used to destroy that cruise ship full of monsters, the _Princess Andromeda_, but this is an even more advanced version."

I gaped at her, "I understood nothing out of what you just said."

"Me neither," Kelly said, shaking her head.

Maggie's evil grin was still plastered across her face. "That's alright. The important thing is: ready to blow stuff up?"

• • •

Annabeth~

The night before the training evaluations, I had a strange dream.

It wasn't exactly a nightmare-not the monsters-trying-to-kill-you kind, I would know-but there was something unsettling about it.

In the dream, I saw two people sitting on top of the roof of the Training Center. At first, I thought it was Percy and I, but with a closer look, I saw that it wasn't. Instead, a burly blonde boy with bandages hands (thankfully, NOT Cato) and a pretty grey-eyed girl with a side braid were talking in hushed tones, and I leaned in to catch what they were saying.

"It doesn't matter, Katniss," said the blond boy. "I've never been a contender in these Game anyways."

_Katniss?_ As in, the girl who we replaced in the Hunger Games?

"That's no way to be thinking," the girl, Katniss, replied.

"Why not? It's true. My best hope is to not disgrace myself and..." He hesitated.

"And what?"

"I don't know how to say it exactly. Only... I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" the boy asked.

Katniss shook her head, but I was beginning to understand what the boy was saying.

He continued. "I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."

The girl bit her lip and asked, "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?"

"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everyone else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to... to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," the boy explained.

And suddenly, I get it. About what the boy was saying. About the Hunger Games, and how he didn't want the Capitol to control him. About everything.

The dream ended, and I woke up. I should have been confused as ever-who were those people? Was the dream real? Had it even happened? But somehow, it was like someone had opened a door to my mind, a door of understanding, and I finally realized what I had to do in my evaluations today.

I would have to defy the Capitol. Fun.

Twenty-four tributes sat in a row of chairs to the left of a door. We were all silent, and I got the feeling that the evaluations were a big part of the Huger Games. Well, at least for everyone else-I barely cared anymore.

Marvel and Glimmer had already gone, and now it was Cato's turn. No doubt he was in the room demolishing dummies right at this moment, and unconsciously I thought about how Percy had so easily disarmed him on the first day of training. One-on-one combat with other tributes was against the rules, and Seaweed Brain hadn't been allowed back in the Training Room after that. I didn't think he wanted to come back, either way.

I glanced over at him, three seats away. He looked calm enough, and I wondered what he would show the Gamemakers during his evaluation-something much better than Cato, probably. Percy was the best swordfighter Camp-Half-Blood had ever seen in three hundred years for a reason.

Just then, the door on the left opened, and Atlas, the head trainer, stepped out. "Annabeth Chase of District Two, come in please."

I nodded and stood. This was it.

I glanced back at Percy one last time and he gave me a two-thumbs up and a grin, like _Don't forget to be awesome_. I smiled back and followed Atlas into the Training Room and whatever was waiting for me there.

When I arrived, one of the Gamemakers on the raised stage in front of me looked up from his clipboard. Along with the pencil in his other hand, he was holding an apple, too, as if he had forgotten it was there and hadn't eaten it yet.

"Annabeth Chase?" the Gamemaker asked.

"Yes."

"You may begin. Show us all of your abilities."

I smiled widely. "Gladly, sir."

I could've crossed the room, picked up a few daggers, and shown the Gamemakers just how accurate I could throw a knife. I could have hefted a spear over my shoulder and skewered a dummy right in the heart. I could have told them all the information I knew about edible plants and roots. I could have done all of those things, but I didn't, because I was tired of being nothing more than a piece in the Capitol's games, just as that boy in my dreams had said.

So, instead, I just sat down.

That's right. I sat down, crossed legged, on the cold tile floor and didn't move.

The looks on the Gamemakers' faces was one that displayed absolute shock. It was the look Mr. D wore when he finally lost his first game of pinnacle to Chiron. It was utterly priceless, and I couldn't help laughing.

They were taken aback by that, too, and it totally boosted my morale. Nothing like making a few ignorant old guys have a mini heart attack over your atrocious behavior. The kids of Hermes would have been _SO_ proud, and this encouraged me to humiliate the Gamemakers even further.

"Hey," I called to them, "Why did the man cross the road?"

They just stared at me blankly, wondering if blondes really were that dumb.

The traditional answer for that question was "To get to the other side", of course, but I had decided to change things up a little bit.

I rolled my eyes, pretending to be exasperated at the Gamemaker's lack of intelligence.

"To run away from the Capitol and start a rebellion to end these ridiculous Hunger Games, of course!"

Well, that reaction was even better than the first. Some of the Gamemakers gasped, some looked like I had just slapped them, some stumbled backwards, clutching their chests as if they had been shot (drama queens-even Drew wasn't even that dramatic). One even tripped backwards into a punch bowl, splashing the red drink all over his crisp white pants. Success.

Once he had recovered from the initial shock, the Gamemaker with the clipboard and the apple made a few notes and growled at me, "Annabeth Chase, you are-"

Quick as lightning, I stood up and strode over to him in a second. I plucked the uneaten apple from his hand before he could even say anything else and took a great bite out of it, chomping loudly.

I swallowed and smiled at the Gamemaker, finishing his sentence for him-"Dismissed," I said, turning around and walking towards the exit of the room.

Without looking, I threw the apple over my shoulder almost carelessly, and I didn't have to turn back around to know that it had landed perfectly into the Gamemaker's open palm. "I won't be a piece in your Games, thanks."

I exited the room and found twenty pairs of eyes staring at me in anticipation, including Seaweed Brain's.

"It went great," I said, answering the question that hung silently in the air.

Then I stepped onto the elevator and punched in the button for floor two, District Two.

As the elevator doors closed and I slowly rose, I wondered if I was about to receive the first "zero" in Hunger Games history.

Like I cared, anyways.

**Hate it? Love it? Please review! **

**~VIVIAN&SARAH3**


	8. I Become a Hunger Games Fugitive

**Hey guys! Its me, the Editor, VIVIAN! So, I wrote a story. YAY! It's called Rachel Tover, Teenager, Demigod, Hero(Almost). Please read it and tell me what you think! See you next time!**  
**~VIVIAN THE EDITOR**

**A/N: Hi, there, guys! Enjoying the new chapter? I hope so! Anyways, here's a special update-two chapters in one week! Lately, I've been having a symptom that's pretty much the complete opposite of a writer's block... a writer's roll? Haha, I really have no idea. Happy reading, and R&R's are greatly appreciated! It inspires me to write faster and keep on going!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games. All credits go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!**

Percy~I Become a Hunger Games Fugitive

I had arrived at the Capitol barely a week ago and I had already managed to make a ton of major enemies.  
Dang, I was good.  
I exited the Training Room feeling one part concerned about my Training Score, two parts totally satisfied with my performance for the Gamemakers. I stepped in the elevator and ascended to level four, where I knew my mentor was waiting to hear how my evaluation had gone. Well, we would all find out soon enough when the scores were announced in an hour. Right now, though, I was starving.  
The elevator doors opened with a pleasant ding, and Finnick was standing right in front of me, obviously wanting to hear all the details of my evaluation.  
"How'd it go?" he asked excitedly.  
"What's for dinner?" I asked at the same time with the same amount of excitement.  
Finnick rolled his eyes, a gesture that he had somehow transformed into attractive, and said, "Alright. We'll discuss this over a dinner of pizza and salad. But, are you sure you can't wait a little longer?"  
I didn't say anything-I didn't have to. My stomach growled like a possessed mama bear in response.  
Finnick Odair sighed,-and yes, that was somehow attractive, too-evidently defeated. Nevertheless, I could detect a hint of a smile on his face as he said, "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Come on, Percy, let's eat."  
Fresca, my quiet district partner, came back from her own evaluation and we all gathered around the dining table along with my blue-haired manager. With her hair sticking almost straight up and being extra poofy today, it made me think of cotton candy, and I just got hungrier.  
Then, the Avoxes brought us the fresh-out-of-the-oven pan pizza and the Caesar (Flickerman) Salad, and I forgot all about my manager's odd hairdo.  
Within minutes, I was already reaching for another pizza when Finnick asked, "Well, Percy? How was your evaluation?"  
"Great," I said casually in between bites of pepperoni pizza, "I requested the warriors just like you told me to, then more or less beat them up." I had left out a major part in my story, but, well, no one needed to hear about that.  
Finnick beamed, and I could have sworn that I actually felt rays of heat hit my face. If I hadn't known better, I would have assumed that the guy was Apollo. Hmm...maybe he was?  
"Nice work, Percy. And Fresca, what about you?"  
My district partner shrugged almost nonchalantly. "It was pretty good," she replied, "I just showed them what I can do with a spear."  
Finnick clapped her on the shoulder and said, "Well done. We're about to find out now!" He switched on the high-def, flat-screen television, and four of us now directed our attention to the announcements of the Training Scores.  
The Capitol anthem played and their emblem flashed across the screen. Our old friend Caesar Flickerman(not the salad, thank the gods) appeared, wearing midnight blue robes accompanied with a bright white smile.  
"A very good evening to you, ladies and gentlemen! You've been waiting for this moment for so long, and now it's finally here. I now present to you... the Training Scores of the tributes of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games!" he declared, so enthusiastically that it made me want to stand up and applause for no reason before the announcements even started. It was some sort of Capitol charmspeak, I tell you.  
"We'll start off with District One!" Caesar continued, "Marvel Sparks has received a nine out of twelve!" Finnick nodded in grudging approval and Fresca raised her eyebrows. A score of nine was superb, meaning that the tribute would be more than a potential threat in the arena and should be watched out for.  
Glimmer Jewels, the girl from District One, received a seven, and then Caesar progressed onto District Two excitedly. "Cato Leerman, of District Two, has received a ten out of twelve!" I could already imagine half of Panem seeing this score and lining up to sponsor that jerk in the Games. Tens were rare, and deadly, too. Enough said.  
"Watch out for him, guys," Finnick warned Fresca and I, "He'll definitely be your biggest threat in that arena."  
After Cato the Douche came Annabeth the Awesome/Wise/Beautiful (take your pick, I chose all three). I held my breath as Caesar announced with a dramatic flourish, "The female tribute from District Two, Annabeth Chase, has received a Training Score of... of..." For once, the professional emcee looked at a loss for words. Then, as if still recovering from his shock, Caesar cleared his throat and nearly shrieked:  
"...TWELVE! Annabeth Chase has scored a twelve out of _twelve_!"  
Holy Poseidon, I love my girlfriend.  
The whole room was in uproar, and there was only four of us. My manager gave a surprised, high-pitched yelp and practically screamed, "What!?" at the television screen.  
Fresca, totally abandoned of her usual stoicness, dropped her jaw so low that I thought it might hit the floor. "Oh. My. GOSH. That's impossible," she gushed, shocked and terrified.  
As for Finnick, he kept shouting: "Twelve! TWELVE? _TWELVE_?!" at no one in particular, as if he couldn't believe what his eyes had seen or what his ears had heard.  
I just sat there silently and grinned.  
Thats my girl, I thought, my heart pretty much bursting with pride, Looks like Cato isn't the "biggest" threat now.  
We were so loud that we had missed both of the District 3 scores, but now Caesar was on to our District, and we became quiet again. I held my breath as he announced my name (geez, I was going to collapse from lack of oxygen soon, you just wait).  
"And now, onto the marvelous District Four! Perseus Jackson, the male tribute, has received a Training Score of-" here Caesar's eyes nearly popped out of his head "-_Twelve_ out of _twelve_! What a night!"  
Again, Holy _Poseidon_.  
And, again, the four of us looked like we were throwing a mini victory party right there in the middle of the dining room. Fresca's jaw just about touched the floor by now, my manager was on the verge of tears-wait, scratch that, now she was in tears-and Finnick Odair was yelling in triumph, shaking my hand and pounding my back so hard my eyes bugged out of my sockets. Dimly, almost in the background, I was aware of Caesar declaring that Fresca's score was a seven, and I nodded to her in congratulations. Then, I excused myself from the chaotic (and that's an understatement) dining room and headed to my room for some peace and privacy-and also because I had heard the faint beeping of my computer alerting me of an incoming video call.  
The message on the screen read: Video chat with Annabeth Chase?  
I pressed the accept button below the question and a new window popped up, along with my girlfriend. She looked so good right then that it hurt, but the second we saw each other we simultaneously yelled, "_Twelve_? What did you do this time?"  
I stared at Annabeth. Sometimes it was creepy how we were so alike.  
"Do you want me to go first?" I asked.  
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'll start." She told me about what she had done during her evaluations, and my eyes grew wider and wider with each passing second. While Annabeth was talking, I thought I heard loud background noises coming from her end, stuff like someone yelling in fury and pottery being smashed. I asked her what that was all about, and my girlfriend just smirked.  
"Who else? Cato's pretty upset that I had outscored him in the Evaluations, so..."  
I didn't think "pretty upset" fully covered bellowing in a rage at the top of your lungs and destroying every piece of furniture in sight, but I simply raised an eyebrow as Annabeth continued.  
She told me about how she had sat down, telling a joke that was like a bomb to the Capitol Gamemakers. She told me how she had stolen the apple from the lead Gamemaker and rebelliously dismissed herself from the evaluations. And finally, she told me about the strange dream she had about a boy and girl talking on a roof, which had inspired her to "be more than a piece in the Capitol's games" in the first place. When Annabeth finished, I was totally slack-jawed.  
"Okay, first of all," I said after she was done talking, "I'm thinking that they gave you a twelve to make you a major target in the Hunger Games. See, Cato already wants to kill you!"  
"He's ALWAYS wanted to kill me," Annabeth muttered.  
"And, I swear to the gods, he never will. The second thing is, I had the _exact_ same dream as you did the night before the evaluations, and that's how I finally realized that we had to fuel the spark in the rebellion ourselves," I said.  
Annabeth nodded-surprises weren't something that was new to her.  
"So, during my session, I did what Finnick asked me to do and requested to fight the Capitol's classically trained warriors for higher marks-it's an old Career secret. I basically destroyed-well, not really, I didn't actually murder them-all of the warriors with just one sword, outnumbered ten to one. [It was actually twenty to one, but that would sound downright cocky.] In about maybe fifteen minutes, [it was actually closer to three, but,-I don't want, in any way, to be like those typical arrogant Careers] the warriors were lying on the ground, each of them disarmed with minor injuries. A shallow cut here, a broken ankle there, but nothing serious."  
Annabeth looked like Finnick had had earlier, beaming with pride. But then her proud expression quickly became confused, something that wasn't very commonly seen on Annabeth.  
"That's it?" she asked. "I mean, I understand how you got the twelve, but you didn't rebel or anything?"  
I shook my head.  
"I'm getting to that, don't worry. The warriors were all lying on the ground, defeated and groaning, and that's when I saw my chance. I turned to the shocked Gamemakers and said, 'Hey, guys, listen up-what you have just witnessed right now will happen very soon, on a much larger scale. Remember this, though: the so-called warriors who lay at my feet at this moment is the Capitol. And I am the Rebellion.' Then I turned and walked out the door without being dismissed."  
My girlfriend let that sink in and whistled. "Impressive. It was much more dramatic than my lame joke, anyways."  
"You can't be lame," I said pointedly, "It's impossible. It's an oxymoron."  
Annabeth smiled, her way of thanks, and said, "It's getting late. I think I'll go get some sleep and wake up early tomorrow for interview training."  
I yawned sleepily and replied, "Yeah, me too. Good night, Wise Girl, I-"  
Then a thought occurred to me: What if the room was bugged? Or what if there is another hidden camera incident?  
I couldn't tell Annabeth that I loved her without the rest of Panem knowing it, too.  
The words were stuck in my throat, and I was afraid to say them-I couldn't put Annabeth in danger again.  
Over the computer screens, our eyes met, and I could tell that we were both thinking the same thing. There was a tense moment of silence between us until Annabeth hesitated, then said something that sounded like, "S'agapo."  
"What?" I asked confused, "'I got hit by a pole'?" Okay, that was an interesting way to end a conversation.  
She rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain, haven't Chiron and I taught you anything? Wait, here."  
Annabeth grabbed a pen from her desktop and scribbled something hastily on her hand. She held it up to the camera and I saw that it read: Σ 'αγαπώ.  
What-of course. It was in Greek. That meant the phrase translated to... oh.  
I love you.  
I smiled, and I knew that she knew that I understood. "Got it, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked teasingly, and I laughed.  
"Yeah," I replied, "Er, I hope you get hit by a pole, too."  
My girlfriend looked like she wanted to laugh-or literally hit me upside the head with a pole. "Good night, Percy," she said, smiling, and the screen went blank.

Maggie~  
Our five-minute-made plan was all set and ready to go when the Kobaloi decided to pay us a visit early, which was pretty inconsiderate because they could've at least given us a notice or heads up beforehand. I knew we were going to be officially compromised when a hidden door on the other side of the track opened and a bunch of creatures that looked like they could be vampires poured out of it, grunting. They were shorter than I had imagined-I hadn't expected that even though I had read about them- probably up to my shoulder at the tallest. Still, they had an evil, malicious gleam in their eyes and gigantic, razor sharp front teeth (like fangs!) the size of my thumb, so I guess it wouldn't be very pleasant if the Kobaloi decided to bite you. (Actually, it wouldn't be pleasant at all-the Kobaloi's bite was poisonous. Believe it or not, the first vampires were based on them. You have now been mind-blown, I know.) Also, there were at least thirty of them, which almost amounted to a small army. Wonderful.  
It was a good thing that we had evacuated the building early-this place was about to go from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds. The only person that had remained was Peeta, still under the spell as he shot us annoyed glares from across the room. He was safe though, hidden behind the snack bar along with Kelly. Katniss had made sure of that.  
There was no time to waste. It was now or never.  
I glanced over at Katniss, who was crouching behind a crumbled pillar, her bow knocked with three arrows at once. She caught my eye and nodded.  
Now.  
I steadied my finger on the trigger that would activate all of the GFM's we had placed inside several of the bumper cars. The whole place was more or less mined-we had tried to spread out the few GFM's we had as much as possible, but there were still gaps, and that was where Katniss and Kelly came in.  
I took a deep breath and counted down from three, trying to erase my doubts that our plan wouldn't work.  
Three.  
Two.  
One.  
I pressed the trigger.  
Kaboom. Or, rather, _**KABOOM!**_  
And that's when all Hades broke loose.  
Green, Greek fire was everywhere, lighting up the track like a brilliant fireworks display. Most of the Kobaloi hissed in murderous rage and shock, disintegrating into yellow sulfur before my eyes. The twelve or fourteen remaining Kobaloi who had survived the explosion shrieked furiously at us in high-pitched voices and charged, dodging the fire. Ready to avenge their dead friends, the Kobaloi threw themselves at us with no mercy. They had barely taken a few running steps when two of them fell over, clutching their chests, which each had a golden arrow with a bronze tip sticking out of it. Those two disintegrated, too, courtesy of Katniss, who was already taking aim with a fresh set of arrows.  
Kelly Cooper, our new mortal friend, charged at the Kobaloi from her hiding place behind the snack bar, wielding a steel baseball bat and smacking each monster-vampire in sight. They groaned and clutched their sides or faces, which already had nasty bruises, and engaged her in battle.  
I grinned and drew my Celestial Bronze sword, taking on a few Kobaloi of my own. There were four of them against one of me, but I was fast, being the daughter of Hermes. I was a blur to the Kobaloi, hacking and stabbing whenever I could, laughing, too. I hadn't had this much fun since I had helped Travis and Connor play the golden mango prank on the Aphrodite kids.  
The next few minutes were a flurry of action as my combat training at camp kicked in. My senses went on autopilot: stab, whirl,-oh, watch out, duck that incoming left jab-slash, dodge, classic Chuck Norris roundhouse kick, roll. Sometime during the fight I realized that demolished furniture (i.e, hacked off table parts) made for really excellent weapons, and I saved my life after being disarmed by a Kobaloi by impaling it with a sharp leg from a broken table.  
Finally, I had disintegrated the Kobaloi into nothing more than piles of dust, literally. I only had a few minor injuries: scratches across my arms and face, a bloody, broken nose, a black eye, and maybe a couple bruises. But thankfully, I hadn't gotten bitten by any of the monsters-there had been a close call when I had spotted one about to sink his teeth (fangs?) into my arm. I quickly realized what it was trying to do and swung my sword at it, cutting the Kobaloi cleanly in half with a shower of sulfur.  
I brushed the hair out of my eyes and surveyed the situation. Kelly had killed most of the monsters that were attacking her with her bat and the two arrows that Katniss had fired, scavenging them from the track and stabbing the Kobaloi with them for the kill. As I watched, Kelly kicked at the last Kobaloi and slammed her baseball down on its head. It collapsed onto the ground, snarling, but she quickly shut it up when she impaled the monster with a golden arrow, finishing it off once and for all. Wow, she was a fast learner.  
But, then, I looked over at Katniss, fighting at the very opposite corner of the track, and my heart nearly stopped. She was still outnumbered three to one, even though she had already killed a couple of Kobaloi, and I could tell that Katniss wasn't in as good shape as Kelly or I was. Katniss's nose was broken and her left ankle was bent at a scary angle, slowing her down as she grimaced in pain. Her arrows had been more effective when they were used in long range, however, with the Kobaloi now up close and personal, she had had no choice but to draw her hunting knives. She knew how to use them well, though close combat with short blades is never a good thing when you're surrounded.  
I sprinted over to her, afraid that I was going to be too late. I saw Katniss grab a wounded Kobaloi across its chest and chuck it right into one of the bumper cars burning with Greek fire. The heat was starting to get intense, and I knew that we would have to leave soon before we became roasted demigod dinner for the giant Hippolytus.  
Katniss's fight with the Kobaloi had narrowed down to two against one. She was holding up well, but suddenly, as if in silent agreement, the two monsters pounced on her at the same time, knocking her down onto the concrete. She protested, trying to wriggle out of their grasp, but they firmly pinned Katniss to the floor. And I felt utterly helpless as one of the Kobaloi lowered their fangs to her neck.  
"_No_!" I screamed in desperation.  
Out of nowhere, a Celestial Bronze-tipped spear sailed through the air, straight at the last two monsters. There were two consecutive _thuds_, and I watched in complete surprise as _both_ of the Kobaloi got impaled with the same spear. The main part of the shaft was sticking out of the monster-vampire on Katniss's left, while the tip was just protruding out of the right one's back.  
Holy Hermes, that was as clean as anyone could get.  
I looked around, confused. It wasn't Kelly who had thrown the spear-she didn't even own one, being a mortal-and it wasn't I who had done it, either.  
No, instead, Peeta Mellark, the great-grandson of the Titan Lord, was standing fifteen away from Katniss and the newly-disintegrated Kobaloi, his hands empty of his spear. As Kelly and I was still gaping at the boy, he silently offered a hand to Katniss and helped her up, and she nodded in thanks. Then, he turned to us and said, "We should get out of here before it's too late."  
I quickly snapped out of my trance and replied, "Right. Hold on, I need to do just one more thing..."  
I turned to Kelly and smiled, snapping my fingers and manipulating the Mist. Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus and an old friend of mine, had taught me this a long time ago, and I wasn't sure if I remembered how to do it. But Kelly's eyes glazed over, and I said, "Thanks for all the help today, Kelly. I hope you get on with life okay after this. Now, none of this ever happened, alright?" Kelly nodded. I snapped my fingers again, and she smiled ignorantly, walking out the door with no memory of what had recently happened. Good.  
Suddenly, the floor of the building started to shake dangerously. At first, I had thought it was my imagination, but then a huge rumbling sound echoed through the place and, without warning, all of the lights flickered off. Even the Greek fires were put out, and that was what really unsettled me.  
"Hippolytus," Peeta said grimly. "We can't face him yet, though..."  
A deep, evil laugh sounded through the dark building, and a voice that sounded like the hissing of snakes sneered, "Face _me_? A giant? Ah, no, my brave demigods, I fear that you stand no chance against I, Hippolytus."  
"My father defeated you once!" I yelled at the darkness, "I'm not afraid to do it again!"  
"Maggie Kay," the voice mused, as if I were an interesting specimen that was being put under a microscope and studied.  
"How interesting. I should crush you underfoot for your incompetence, of course, but perhaps I will let you go and see if you are able to collect the remaining pieces of the Sword. If you die along the way, it won't matter. The gods will soon follow your fate. Though I might as well save myself the trouble..." the voice sighed almost regrettably "...and kill you all now."  
The ground shook again, more forcefully this time, and I was nearly thrown off my feet. The lights feebly flickered back on, but that didn't reassure me one bit-not when I heard loud, heavy footsteps thundering towards the back of the building.  
I didn't even hesitate. "Change of plans, guys: run," I said to Peeta and Katniss.  
Katniss gave a small cough, looked down at her broken ankle, and muttered, "Uh..."  
"Here, I've got this," Peeta declared, and in one quick move, swept Katniss off her feet, carrying her bridal style.  
Man, he was strong.  
The poor girl looked shocked, but she didn't have time to protest as we sprinted full speed out of Kobe's Bumper Car Madness as if we had a murderous, immortal giant on our heels. Oh wait, we did.  
But as I escaped from the building, I couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that the giant had really let us go. We wouldn't have been alive otherwise.  
Well, welcome to my hazard-free life. Not.


	9. I Get a Lecture on How to Love

**A/N: Hey readers! How many of you beautiful people out there are enjoying a nice, three-day weekend? I know I am! Happy reading, guys!**

**-Sarah**

Peeta~ I Get a Lecture on How to Love

Taking down vengeful vampire-monsters in a burning building? Sure, no problem. Seeing the girl I had a crush on for more than eleven years in minor pain? Not so much.  
After a couple of miles, Maggie, Katniss, and I collapsed onto a bench in Central Park, exhausted and more than a little singed from the earlier explosions. I laid Katniss down on the soft bed of grass gently, hoping that she was going to be alright. We got some odd looks in our direction from a few older teenagers playing soccer and a mom passing by with a stroller, but, otherwise, no one really paid us any attention, thankfully.  
We assessed our wounds, which weren't very serious: all of us were a little banged up but alive. As for Katniss's broken ankle, Maggie fed her something that looked like a solid form of golden honey, and, after a tense moment when Maggie seemed to be nervously holding her breath, it slowly started to mend itself. I sighed with relief-Katniss was going to be okay, at least. That was one problem solved.  
"So, about the silver shard," I said, clearly my throat and forcing myself to tear my gaze away from Katniss. "Were you guys able to find it? Sorry, I guess I was kind of, uh, out of my mind for most of the time and I never really found out if you had gotten it or not."  
Katniss shook her head and propped herself up on her elbows.  
"Peeta, it's not your fault," she replied, "And we did manage to get the shard. Here it is..."  
She dug around her old hunting coat for a second then produced something flat wrapped in velvet, handing it to me. That's when I noticed the shallow cut on her left hand that extended from her palm to her pinky, which was dripping blood a little. I frowned and asked Katniss what that was all about, and she glanced down at her hand as if seeing the cut for the first time.  
"It must've been the shard that did this. I was fingering it earlier at the Kobaloi's place when Kelly had given it to me, and I suppose I hadn't been careful enough with the jagged edges. It's nothing, really."  
For some reason, I felt my stomach give an unpleasant twist as I listened to Katniss's explanation, but I didn't know why.  
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"  
She waved off my question dismissively like it was annoying flea buzzing around her.  
"Peeta, I'm fine. Go on, have a look at the shard yourself while I put a bandage over this."  
I gingerly unwrapped the shard like it was a Greek Fire Mine that was going to explode in my face at any second. I neatly unfolded the velvet lining and exposed a sharp, silver-y piece of jagged metal in my hand. It glinted with a sort of cold, harsh light, and I knew that this was it: genuine Tartaric Silver, alright. I cautiously turned the shard of the sword over in my hands-and nearly dropped it onto the ground.  
"What is it, Peeta?" Maggie asked, concerned. I guess I couldn't exactly hide the fear on my face too well.  
I took a few deep breaths and waited for my heart rate to return to normal before replying, "It's nothing. It must have been a stupid trick of the light or just my crazy imagination, don't worry."  
Maggie raised her eyebrows questioningly, and I could tell that she didn't believe me. Still, the vision I had thought I had just seen in the shard unsettled me, and I wasn't ready to share it with anyone just yet. It would have to wait until later.  
"There's something else," I added quickly, changing the topic, "The prophecy doesn't say that there's a deadline for our quest, but I think that we should finish it as fast as possible, anyways. The giant's footsteps, the one we heard when we were at the bumper car place; they belonged to him, alright. That means that Hippolytus has already 'broken free from the chain' and is slowly gaining power. We need to stop him, quickly, before he regains to his full strength and destroys Western Civilization, and it would be easier to defeat him when he's weak."  
The two girls nodded and Katniss took another item out of her pocket-the map of the silver shards-unfurling it.  
She scanned the map and said, "Well, the next nearest shard is in a state called Kentucky. I suppose that'll be our next stop?"  
She showed Maggie and I the location on the map and we all nodded in silent agreement. Whatever dangers we would be facing next would be there, the place we needed to go to. It seemed like this demigod life was all about willingly running straight at monsters and a very likely death every day, and I was beginning to like it less than less. It was all I could do not to crush my pride and run away from the monsters instead of facing them head on, like a real hero should. I was no hero.  
Maggie grinned. "Kentucky, huh? I bet they have excellent fried chicken."  
"What?" Katniss asked, clearly as confused as I was, but Maggie just shook her head.  
"Later, Katniss. Right now, you're getting some rest! We're going to catch a train tomorrow, and the last thing we need is for three demigods to faint out of exhaustion against the new threats that we're certain to face along the way. Monsters will just laugh and slaughter us! We'll be dead demigod meat!" she said in that extremely optimistic, totally morale-boosting way of hers. Fantastic.  
But Katniss simply quirked a smile and laid her head back in her hands.  
"Fine," she said, closing her eyes and letting her breathing slow. Within a few minutes, Katniss was sound asleep and snoring softly. Gods, she was cute even then.  
And then Maggie turned to me, the concern back in her expression. "So, Peeta," she said, "What did you see in that shard?"

There was almost nothing I could hide from Maggie Kay. It was like she could look into me with her sky blue eyes and sees all of my secrets, my fears, and it was quite unnerving. She could read even the most closed off people (i.e. Katniss) like an open book, so, I really had no choice but to tell her about what my vision was about.  
"Katniss," I muttered. "Who else?" I added under my breath.  
Maggie suddenly laughed. "Oh, Peeta," she said with a grin, "I should have known."  
"What?" I asked, startled.  
It wasn't that obvious... was it?  
"It's obvious!" She said, rolling her eyes in a duh expression.  
"You like her, don't you? And a lot, by the looks of it."  
"I don't like her," I mumbled half-heartedly. It was true, though; I didn't like Katniss-I loved her. And a lot, ever since I had been five and heard her sing.  
Maggie rolled her eyes again (I was getting dizzy just watching her) but she abruptly grew worried when she realized something else.  
"It wasn't a good vision, wasn't it?" she asked me, "It wasn't your wedding or anything, it was probably something more along the lines of-"  
"Katniss being chained to the giant," I said, trying to keep my tone flat and neutral. It wasn't like Maggie's first comment about Katniss's and my self's marriage had left me spluttering like a fish, all right. Night was falling and it was getting dark, so I was relieved that Maggie hadn't seen my stupefied reaction.  
"I don't know, they were cuffed together by this thin silver chain on their hands. It just looked... wrong."  
The daughter of Hermes looked deep in thought. "Hmm... Maybe this is a sign from the Oracle. Maybe it's showing us what could happen in the future..."  
"That's what I'm scared about," I admitted, "It's the fact that the vision might actually come true, and who-knows-what could happen to Katniss."  
We sat together on the bench for a while, letting that last grim piece of information sink in. Finally, Maggie broke the silence and asked me a question that totally caught me off guard:  
"How long have you loved her?"  
Well, this girl was full of surprises. I quickly gathered my thoughts as best as I could, but I still ended up responding only with an extremely intelligent, "Huh?"  
"You heard me," was all Maggie said.  
I thought about it for a minute and debated whether I should tell her or not. But Maggie Kay was my friend, even if I had known her for less than twenty-four hours, and if I couldn't trust her, I couldn't trust anyone else in this era.  
I hesitated for only a split second longer and said, "Eleven years, or more. I've known Katniss since we were five, but she'd never talk to me, and I'd never have the courage to actually go and start a conversation with her in the first place."  
"And, now, look where we've gotten! She actually let you carry her, bridal style, out of a building!" Maggie grinned, like I had completed some huge accomplishment.  
"Yeah, well, that was because her ankle was broken and the building was burning. It doesn't count," I protested.  
My friend smiled. "It's the little things that count. Love's funny that way-most people remember the small, insignificant-yet-not-really-insignificant moments better than the big, important things. Does that make any sense at all?"  
I nodded, comprehending the slightest bit.  
The little things. That's what counts, I thought.  
"It was a quite a while ago, though," I said, a sudden memory dawning on me, "Our biggest 'little thing' happened more than five years ago."  
"You see?" Maggie declared excitedly, "Spill!"  
So I did. I told Maggie about the time when I was eleven and took a beating from my cruel mother to give Katniss two loaves of burnt bread, the ones that would eventually save her and her family's lives. And then, the next day at school, how I saw her kneel down and pick a bright yellow dandelion from a lone patch of grass. It had somehow survived the pouring rain the other day, and I guess it had been a symbol of hope for her.  
Maggie was a good listener; she never interrupted me once, which was a shocker.  
True, she had a rapid-fire motormouth, but it could shut itself up any time she wanted it to. Cool.  
When I finished, she stared at me, open mouthed, like she couldn't believe what I was telling her.  
"What?" I asked a little uneasily.  
"You've saved her life TWICE now!" Maggie exclaimed. "She's bound to fall for you soon."  
I shook my head. "Not likely," I said, "She hasn't even spoken to me once back in District Twelve. Thanks, but, it's hopeless, Maggie. It's impossible for Katniss to ever love me back."  
It was Maggie's turn to shake her head.  
"Nothing's hopeless, or impossible, for that matter. You can either live as if miracles never happen, or you can live as if miracles happen all the time. Just look on the bright side!"  
"What, have you been watching Dr. Phil?" I asked. (Dr. Phil was a famous Capitol therapist, and his show was on television every Thursday night. I found it pretty ridiculous, but supposedly most Capitol citizens enjoyed it.)  
"Do you think a demigod with murderous monsters on her tail has time for Dr. Phil?" Maggie laughed, her tone teasing.  
"Good luck, though, and don't give up."  
"Thanks. There's another thing, though..."  
"What is it?"  
I had been bothered by this the whole day. "It was something earlier today," I said, "When you came barreling into the Rec Room screaming about your brothers. You took one look at Katniss and said that she was your best friend. I know that Katniss has a best friend that looks just like you in the future, and her name is Madge. But who were you talking about?"  
Madge-sorry, MAGGIE-nervously bit her lip. "Um..."  
"It's fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I said quickly. "Forget about it."  
She sighed.  
"No, I might as well. I haven't talked about her in a while. Her name was Joss, and she was one of the undetermined kids of Hermes. She looked exactly like Katniss but in a younger version. Joss was almost five years older than me-I was nine, and she was fourteen. Still, she was always by my side when I first arrived at Camp, and we'd share plenty of good times playing pranks on the other kids. But then Luke Castellan came along, and everything changed."  
"Oh," I muttered awkwardly, not really knowing what to say (and that was a rare thing). "Okay."  
Maggie continued painfully. "When Luke was sixteen, he asked Joss to go on his quest to steal the Apples of Hesperides with him-Joss was one of the best swordfighters in camp. I think part of the reason Joss wanted to go so badly was that she wanted to prove herself to her godly parent, and maybe she'd get claimed when she returned. But things didn't go as well as we'd expected."  
There was a terse pause.  
Then-"She never came back from that quest." Maggie said, so quietly that I almost didn't hear her, "It was a long time ago."  
I gulped. "What happened?"  
"Luke told me that halfway along the quest, he and Joss had run into an unfriendly pack of dracanae, telekhines, and hellhounds. They were being pursued all the way across Colorado when she'd sacrificed herself to hold them back and give Luke a chance in finishing his quest. He came back home in a couple of weeks with a big scar on the side of his face in place of Joss, and he took all of the credit.  
Never mentioned her once, even when his quest was partly a success. I never forgave him for that," she said bitterly, "I always hated him after then, after Joss died. Luke took away the first friend I ever had."  
I looked over to Maggie and saw that fresh, silent tears were pouring down her face. She wasn't like Katniss at all, not the closed off, hostile kind of girl. Even though she was too busy kicking butt to sit down and cry, she wasn't afraid to do both. She wasn't afraid to show her emotions, and I guess that it was the thing I really liked about Maggie Kay.  
"Hey, I'm sorry," I said, patting her back reassuringly. And before I knew it, I was drawing Maggie closer to me and holding her against my chest as her tears soaked my shirt. It felt kind of... nice?  
She drew away from our hug and wiped her eyes, sniffling.  
"I'm fine," she murmured, "I'm okay."  
Maggie yawned, and I saw how tired she was, despite the effort she made to stay awake. Instantly, I felt a pang of guilt.  
"Hey, go to sleep. I'll take first watch," I told her softly.  
"Alright, thanks," Maggie said, smiling weakly. And in that brief second, I realized how pretty she looked just then. The lamplight cast a warm glow over her sandy brown hair, which was flowing over her shoulder, making it turn almost a golden color. Her teary sky blue eyes (even though the sky right now was nearly pitch black) were still red from crying, but she almost looked perfect all the same.  
No, way. It wasn't possible. I had known Maggie for less than a day and this had to happen?  
Was I falling in love with Maggie Kay, too?  
Oh gods, things were going to get complicated...

Annabeth~  
The training for the interviews was a complete nightmare, and that was seriously saying something considering the fact that I've had nightmares about being dragged into Tartarus and forced watch endless reruns of cheesy soap operas before. I stubbornly refused to cooperate with Brutus and Enobaria, and Cato kept shooting me poison daggers with his eyes from across the room. He had been restrained by metal cuffs when our mentors had finally put a stop to him wrecking the room, but they didn't really sound that enthusiastic about it. And I quote from Brutus: "A little demolishing here and there never hurt nobody. You've got to let your emotions run free sometimes."  
"Free", not WILD, Brutus.  
Anyways, my two mentors were trying to coach Cato and me and see what kind of angle we should play for the audience. Cato, obviously, would be tough, strong, but me? I was a little bit trickier to work with. Or deal with, for that matter.  
For once, I abandoned my rule of "respect your elders" and totally ignored Enobaria's frustrated explanation about how crucial the interviews were and waved off Brutus's not-really-threatening death threats. I couldn't have cared less if my interview was a total disaster-I mean, sponsors are great and all, but you'll need more just than that to win the Hunger Games. You'll need wit and intelligence, too.  
Finally, my mentors gave up trying to convince me and concluded that my strategy with the audience was to be an annoying and ignorant brat. Well, that was fine by me.  
The Hunger Games were tomorrow, right after tonight's interviews. I would've said that I wasn't worried at all, but, in truth, I was pretty much as anxious as everyone else. This was a different arena than any other ones I had ever fought in. There were no gods to pray to for help, no mythological facts to rely on this time-just a bunch of kids fighting to the death. Wonderful.  
Around six o'clock, I convinced myself to eat a few bites of a bagel-I hadn't slept well last night due to dreams about a lost thirteenth district and had missed breakfast-just as my prep team arrived. They flocked around me like an irritating group of Stymphalian birds, congratulating me on my training score and how they all nearly fainted on the spot when they had heard I was dating Percy Jackson. I gritted my teeth and told them that the video they had seen was a fake, something put together by a Capitol gossip-lover, probably. They all cooed disappointedly, like they had found out that the Bachelorette had eliminated one of the guys they really liked. Reality shows are idiotic, if you ask me.  
My prep team washed my hair, painted my nails, scrubbed me clean, and basically got me down to Beauty Base Zero. The whole time, they gossiped about how Percy and that blond District One girl would make a much more adorable couple than he and I would. Then, giggling like little kids, they exited the room, debating if Percy would go better with Glimmer or his district partner, Fresca. I was enormously relieved when I saw my blue-haired stylist, Cornelia, walk in, because I was sure if I had had to put up with my ignorant prep team any longer, I probably would've gone Cato-status and started destroying every beauty product in sight-eyelash curlers, nail polish, and all. Cornelia smiled at me in greeting, and I returned it.  
"Hello, Annabeth!" my stylist said as she went over to me, setting the beautiful silk dress she had been holding on the counter, "Ready for the interviews tonight?"  
"Not really," I admitted. "I haven't really worked out what kind of angle I'm supposed to play with the audience. I can't be funny, or charming, or cocky, or mysterious."  
Cornelia raised her eyebrows as she did my hair into an up-do. "The girl who scored the first twelve in Hunger Games history-congratulations, by the way-can be fierce! Have you tried that?"  
I winced as Cornelia added so much hairspray to my loose curls that it could've been super glue for all I knew. "Well, yes, but somehow it just doesn't work-I don't really know what to say."  
"Hmm..." my stylist mused as she started on my make-up, dabbing a bit of silver eyeshadow on my eyelids. "How about just being honest?"  
"Honest?" I echoed.  
"Sure!" Cornelia said excitedly, now adding blush to my cheeks and a pale pink color to my lips. "Just tell the truth! The audience needs to get a feel of who you are and where you're from, so I suppose being open to them is the best bet."  
"You're right," I said, nodding. "It's a good-"  
"Oh don't do that!" Cornelia exclaimed, readjusting my face into position with her hands, "Please, try to keep your head still. It makes things so much easier for me, thank you."  
"Sorry," I replied. "But, as I was saying, it's a good idea. I don't think there's any other way I can sway the audience."  
Cornelia finished my make-up and quickly checked over my nails, which were painted a dark, sparkly blue to match my dress. The dress was simple-strapless and just skimmed the edges of my knees. There was a black satin belt that formed a large bow on my back, and it almost looked as if I had wings. Fancy, alright.  
I put on the gorgeous, sparkling dress and gasped-mostly out of surprise than anything else. Again, I was amazed how Cornelia had so effortlessly transformed me into, well, a Barbie doll, and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The ADHD, off-task part of me wondered that if I was Barbie, would Percy be Ken? Then I mentally slapped myself for being stupid and directed my thoughts somewhere, conveniently my interview.  
I slipped into the pair of flats that went with my dress, thanked Cornelia, and was driven with Cato to the stage where the interviews would be taking place. I swallowed my nerves as we took our seats in the row of tributes, the lights coming on in the stadium and the cameramen starting to count down. In the corner of my eye, I could see President Snow standing on a balcony overlooking the stage, his snake-like eyes seeing everything. I could swear that for a second, his steely gaze lingered on me for a little longer than the rest of the tributes, and he was giving me the evil eye. Oh, how I love my enemies.  
Caesar Flickerman, the host of the interviews, took his seat on the stage next to another empty seat, the one for the tributes. I could see the huge audience all around us, every one of them excited about the start of the interviews. The show was about to begin.  
Caesar, our emcee, gave a winning smile and announced an enthusiastic introduction for the Tribute Interviews. The audience gave a cheer of approval as Glimmer pranced onto the stage, looking quite adorable in a sleeveless baby pink gown that fell to her ankles. Just kidding.  
Glimmer's interview flew by, even with the three-minute time limit. She was obviously playing the "sexy" angle with the audience, and this was obvious when Caesar asked her if she had a boyfriend back in District 1.  
Glimmer didn't, but she vaguely hinted (read: told the whole freaking country of Panem) that she found a certain green-eyed District Four boy extremely attractive.  
I poofed out my cheeks and pretended to fake-barf, and she saw me do this while she was onstage. The look on her face was priceless and I snickered. The buzzer rang, signaling the end of her interview session, and Glimmer threw me a dirty look as she walked off the stage.  
Then, she turned to Percy, winked, and blew him a kiss, lifting up her left foot. It looked so seventy's cliché that I almost laughed as she made a fool of herself. Our gazes met again and the evil glare returned to Glimmer's blue eyes. I just grinned and reached out my arm in midair as if I was intercepting her "kiss" to Percy, pretending to close my fist around it. Then, fast, I drew my arm back and shoved her "kiss" into an imaginary pocket sewn into the side of my dress, patting it and smiling reassuringly. Glimmer looked like she wanted to rip her "kiss" out of my "pocket" (along with a few inches of my flesh) and send it along on its way to Percy, but she simply sat down, disgusted.  
Annabeth: 1, Glimmer: NADA.  
I looked over at Percy several seats over and saw that he was trying not to laugh.  
His eyes read: Nice one, Wise Girl.  
And I silently replied back: You're welcome, Seaweed Brain. A relationship is for two people, but apparently some people can't count.  
But, then again, the fact that Percy and I were in a relationship was still unconfirmed to the Capitol... you know what? Let's just stop being self-contradictory for a second here and forget about it.  
Marvel's turn was almost up, and I started to get nervous. What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? Then, I stopped myself. Wait a minute, who cared? It's not like I had to please the audience, who was more than happy to send me off to my death tomorrow! I didn't have to look out for their happiness, too, did I?  
And the answer was "no, I didn't".  
The buzzer sounded, and Marvel exited the stage with the crowd applauding loudly. I rigidly got up from my chair and walked up the steps leading to the stage, taking a few deep breaths.  
You can do this, Annabeth, I told myself, Do this for the Rebellion.  
I greeted Caesar and took my seat next to him, calmly folding my hands across my lap.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Annabeth Chase!" Caesar declared, and the audience of the Capitol cheered wildly.  
Well, I had them in my favor right now, but that was subject to change in a few minutes.  
"So, Annabeth," Caesar started, "Let's start with that superb training score you received a couple of days ago! TWELVE out of TWELVE! Tell me, how did you feel when you achieved that score?"  
Be honest, be honest, I thought. Okay…  
How did I feel when I got that twelve, that cursed twelve?  
"Betrayed."  
Even Caesar was taken aback by that sudden comment. "And why is that, Miss Chase?" he asked me, clearly mystified.  
"Because I didn't deserve it," I replied, and the whole audience gasped in unison.  
"But the Gamemakers gave me one anyways so I could become a major target in the Games. Gee, thanks a lot."  
It took a while for Caesar to recover from and digest that bit of information. I could see a few cracks in his professionalism as he asked me, "Well, then, Annabeth, we all know that you essentially 'volunteered' for the Hunger Games. You wanted to come, didn't you? What are your thoughts on these Games? Do you feel that you have an excellent chance in winning them, even if you didn't earn that twelve?"  
He couldn't have asked a better question. Right then, I knew what I was going to say, what I had to say.  
"No one really wins the Hunger Games, Caesar," I said, standing up from my seat as I slowly gained confidence. "At least, no tribute ever does. It's the same thing every year-twenty-four kids put in an arena and forced to kill each other off. And for what? It just goes 'round and 'round, all of the time. No, the only person who actually 'wins' these Games is the Capitol itself."  
Every single person in the crowd was silent, stunned probably. Seriously, you could've heard a pin drop. No one made a move to silence me, even though that wouldn't last long. I would have to stand my ground as long as I could.  
"Citizens of the Capitol!" I said, "How many of you have children between the ages of twelve through eighteen? Imagine, just for a second, if your child is to be picked for these Hunger Games and is brutally murdered in that arena-on live television, for the world to see!"  
Some of the members of the audience cried out in desperation or anguish, some gasping and sobbing. I didn't pay any attention; I had to keep this going. I turned around, facing the cameras.  
"Districts of Panem! The _thirteen_ Districts of Panem!" I shouted, spreading my arms out wide, now addressing the people at home and the rebels hiding out in what was known as District 13, "The Capitol is trying to divide us! They force us to murder each other's children in these Hunger Games, but we must stand united! We must refuse to take part in any more of this barbarism, and _rebel_! We must not stand for this anymore! We must start a REVOLUTION!"  
That did it.  
The cameras became dark, the large television screens above the stadium went blank. Caesar Flickerman still sat in his seat as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard me say. The tributes themselves had a wide range of expressions on their faces, from open-mouthed shock to total confusion to complete disgust (the Careers, mostly). Percy was grinning and giving me subtle thumbs up. President Snow was giving me a murderous, vengeful stare. The audience was a complete wreck.  
Perfect.  
I was feeling pretty good about myself until the white gloved hand of a Peacekeeper clamped over my mouth and roughly dragged me off of the stage.

**Hey guys! Vivian here. Just saying that part with Peeta deciding between Maggie and Katniss, that's my life. I can't decide who I want…#sadlife. But anyways, on the bright side, please read my mini story! I know it takes me awhile to write a chapter, but my finals ARE THIS WEEK! AGHHHHHH. Have fun studying!  
~ VIVIAN**


	10. My Evil Great-Granddad Pays me a Visit

**A/N: Hey there, guys, Happy Friday! Enjoy the chapter and your weekend, and don't forget to R&R! I really appreciate it! Plus, a quick thank you to my followers and everyone who has reviewed or favorited this story! It means so much to me! Have fun reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! All credits go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins, two very amazing people!**

**-Sarah**

Annabeth~ My Mythological Great-Granddad Pays me a Visit

If it was mayhem onstage, behind the scenes would've been a major front of World War III.

Two more Peacekeepers grabbed me by the arms as I was being dragged backstage and pinned them behind my back. People were running everywhere, shrieking orders to put a complete stop to the interviews and to cancel the recaps. Other Peacekeepers (why are they all dressed like Stormtroopers?) rushed past me to handle the roaring crowd outside, which was getting out of control. The Capitol citizens were yelling complaints and catcalls so loud that I could hear them even from where I was backstage.

It was more than that, though. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I heard some of the audience members outside calling for change, vying for an end to the Hunger Games.

I wondered where the Peacekeepers were taking me, but I guess that one way or another, I wouldn't like it one bit.

They marched me outside into the cool night air, the roar of traffic in the distance. Then, the two Peacekeepers, clamped my arms together with metal restrainers, like the cuffs Cato had worn earlier today. They shoved me forcefully into the backseat of a black van, and slammed the door on me as the lock shut with an audible "click". Within seconds, one of them slid into the driver's seat, which was separated from me by an invisible force field (I could tell because of the rippling square in midair-the chink in the armor) and started the engine.

Oh, geez. From the looks of it, things weren't going to get pretty anytime soon.

The force field suddenly turned a pitch black color, and, since there were no windows in the backseat, I was trapped in complete darkness. This was probably happening so that I wouldn't be able to see where the Peacekeeper was taking me, but I felt utterly claustrophobic in the cramped space in the back of the van. I lost track of the minutes as they crawled by, slowly, as I was driven to who-knows-where. After maybe about half hour, the van finally pulled over, and I could hear my Peacekeeper escort getting out of his driver seat and coming around the back end to let me out.

I braced myself as the door slid open, preparing for a fight, but the Peacekeeper just grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the van, quickly tying a blindfold over my eyes before I could even catch a glimpse of my surroundings. For now, my best guess was that I was in the Middle of Freaking Nowhere. Well, close enough.

I was marched along in silence for a few minutes, descended several flights of stairs, and then entered a room, where I was told that I could take my blindfold off. I removed it and blinked for a few seconds, adjusting my eyes to the dim light. The place appeared to be your typical interrogation room, a lot like the ones you'd read about in those murder mystery novels. It was completely blank and bare except for the steel table under a feeble ceiling light, including two chairs on opposite sides.

The Peacekeeper motioned silently for me to sit down in the chair facing the door, and I did, crossing my arms over my chest while mentally making sure that my dagger was still strapped to my thigh, hidden under the folds of my dress. You never know, it was just in case things got violent. Yep, I was like a Barbie doll, alright-Mafia edition. The Peacekeeper did a sharp one-eighty turn and exited the room.

And the president of Panem himself entered the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Snow was wearing the same white tuxedo from the interviews earlier tonight, and he also had the same cold expression. His smile was gone, replaced with an ugly snarl, which was directed at me, obviously. That wasn't the thing that caught me way off guard, though-come on, I've received those glares from all the monsters I've ever faced-instead, it was President Snow's eyes. No, not the LOOK in his eyes. I mean his actual eyes.

They were a solid, golden color, just like a certain Titan Lord I knew.

"You," I said with as much venom as I could manage, stumbling out of my chair and drawing my knife-see, this is what I'm taking about! You get hit with these kinds of surprises so often in the world of mythology and you kind of start to get used to it.

"You're too stubborn to die, aren't you?"

President Snow/Kronos laughed coldly, his gold eyes flickering to pale blue, then gold again. "Now, Annie, is that a way to greet your-"

I had him pinned to the wall, my knife pressed against his throat threateningly, in a fraction of a second. "What do you want?" I growled dangerously, "Why are you here? Greek Gods don't even exist in this era."

"Come on, Annie girl-"

"Don't call me that!" I dug my knife deeper into the guy's throat, but he didn't even flinch.

"-you know that time lasts for eternity, even when nothing else exists. Time IS eternity."

"So, why are you here? Is this really you?" I demanded.

Kronos rolled his eyes. "If this was 'really me', you'd be dead by now, girl. Unfortunately, my power is limited in this form, and I am already weak as it is. This is just a shadow of me in President Snow."

"How appropriate, since you two are so alike," I muttered.

"However, I'll only have a couple of minutes to sustain this form. Which is why I need to tell you something crucial," the Titan Lord explained with a trace of a faint smirk on his face. I suddenly became suspicious.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, "You're supposed to want me to fail in this dimension, so Gaea can take over modern civilization in our world and destroy everything in her way."

"And that's the problem!" Kronos exclaimed impatiently, "Whereas I wanted to rule all of humanity and bring forth a new Golden Age, Gaea wants nothing but destruction, to return the world to its primitive state way before the gods. There will be no life, just a chaotic world filled with natural disasters. No, I need people to rule over, people that I can control and manipulate and execute if I wish."

"So... you're a good guy. For now," I summarized kind of reluctantly.

"Of sorts. But we're running out of time-" Snow's eyes switched from gold to blue, back and forth, rapidly. It seemed like the Titan Lord was losing his grip on his host.

"-the thing I wanted to tell you is that in a few moments, when I have left this mortal host, President Snow will give you an offer. You _must_ accept it, do you hear me? You don't stand a chance otherwise; they'll kill you both within the blink of an eye in that arena. It is imperative that the boy lives to carry on the Revolution."

The hand with my knife, which I had been holding against Kronos's throat, was shaking so badly that I almost lost my grip on my weapon. Before it could clatter to the floor, though, I lowered it and stammered, "I... I don't know-what are you-you're lying-"

Kronos just absentmindedly straightened his white tie that matched his tux and said almost in a bored tone, "Oh, my dear Annabeth, I think we both know that I'm not. Now, goodbye!"

And with that, my mythological great-granddad was gone, the gold fading away completely from President Snow's eyes, replaced with the normal piercing blue. They blinked and clouded over with confusion for several seconds as he looked like he was trying to remember something, but forgot. Then, I received the classic death glare from Snow and he said in a deadly calm voice, "Annabeth Chase. Sit down."

So, I sat-on the desk, folding my hands over my lap with a smile. I wasn't going to give this creep the satisfaction of me obeying his orders. Snow glared at me a bit more and turned to pace the length of the room, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Do you know why you have been brought here, Miss Chase?" he asked.

"Because you have nothing better to do and you're a lonely guy-but you'd never admit it-so you want to have a nice friendly chat with me over a cup of tea?" I countered in a mouthful.

Snow seemed unfazed at my lack of cooperation. "Dear, Annabeth, has anyone taught you your manners? I would love to stay and chat, obviously, but, you see, I have much more pressing matters to attend to and I cannot waste my time in dealing with incompetent troublemakers like you."

"You're welcome."

"I never thanked you. I am not the enemy here, girl, and you should be grateful that I am even offering you this chance because I am a compassionate man."

I almost snorted in annoyance. Compassionate, and he forces children to battle to the death in a dangerous arena every year? Sure.

"But, to the point: what you said today Annabeth, was a dangerous move. Any acts or even talk of Rebellion here in Panem-especially the Capitol-is punishable by death. You know this, don't you?"

"I can't say I did," I replied, forcing myself to keep a poker face-which wasn't that hard, probably due to the fact that my poker face was the same thing as my panic face. Inside, though, my heart was hammering and my palms started to get clammy. Gosh, those emotions were only reserved for Percy!

The President continued menacingly, "That's quite a shame, however, aware or not, you will have to face the punishments of your little speech tonight. Since tributes cannot be executed before the Games-messy business, it doesn't play well with the audience, you see-my Gamemakers and I will have to design an 'accident' to kill you off instead. Still, that will not be enough. Even with your death, those words may still ring in rebels' ears, and an uprising may be started. Annabeth Chase, you have started a spark that may grow into a dangerous wildfire if left unattended and I cannot and will not allow that to happen. So, I offer you a deal."

I swallowed. "What is it?"

"Before the Games begin, you are to make a spontaneous speech to the Capitol and all of Panem saying that you wholly support the Hunger Games, and that what you said the night of the interviews was the result of too much morphine, which had caused you to be quite out of your mind. You are to say that your words tonight was nothing but folly and that they are untrue. You will still be killed in the arena by the 'accident' of course, but only you can hamper out the flame that you have started."

"That's it?" I asked doubtfully. For some reason, I sensed that there was something else.

Snow smiled a cruel smile, "And you will stay away from Percy Jackson."

I hoped the small, pitiful sound I made in the back of the throat couldn't be heard by Snow.

"You will have nothing to do with that troublesome boy," he said, "He is a dangerous pawn in these games, and I KNOW that both of you are rebels. However, since Jackson has not been a _public _threat, the Gamemakers and I will not focus our attention on him in the arena. He may still be slaughtered by one of the other tributes, of course, but, as far as Gamemaking goes, we will not interfere with him."

My thoughts were spinning at a million miles an hour. "So, I give this reassuring speech to Panem to put down the rebellion and stay away from Percy, and, in exchange, you'll grant him immunity from your Gamemakers in the arena?"

"And if you don't, we'll stage 'accidents' for both you and Perseus Jackson, yes. Also, this conversation never happened-you will not mention this any further to anyone, including Perseus Jackson."

I bit my lip nervously. "How do I know that you'll keep your word?" There wasn't a River Styx to swear by, not here.

The President tapped his golden wristwatch. "This multi-use device, here, is recording everything we are saying right now. It also monitors my daily activities, and if it detects that I have broken my oath, it will detonate itself and automatically explode. Many Capitol citizens own this-it's particularly useful for business transactions. So, what do you say, Miss Chase?" he asked, eyeing me coolly, "Do you accept my offer?"

_You must accept his offer, _Kronos had said. _Had it been a trick, or...?_

_Why accept though?_ I thought ._I'd just be undoing my work tonight. And Percy and I can evade the "accidents"; we've faced worse things before…_

As if he was chiding me, Kronos's words rang in my head again:_ They'll kill you both in the blink of an eye in that arena. _And I knew that he was right.

_It'll be okay, it's going to be fine, things will turn out alright_, I thought repeatedly, trying to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. I miserably failed and gave up, only thinking one thing now: _I'm sorry, Percy._

"Yes," I replied to President Snow slowly, and I sounded hollow, like I was speaking from far away, "I accept."

Snow smiled, and I had a feeling that he knew this was going to make this decision all along. "Well then, Miss Chase," he said, walking out of the room.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you."

• • •

Katniss~

Our trip to Kentucky was pretty much a disaster, to say the least.

Things went okay at first. Maggie found the nearest Amtrak station (a modern-day train station, basically) and checked for out-of-state rides. She found one that stopped in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and from there, we would be transferring trains for the rest of the way to Kentucky. Simple. What could go wrong?

A lot, if you were a teenager on a dangerous quest to defeat an almost-invincible giant with two other demigods.

Maggie, Peeta and I caught the first train at nine o'clock at the night, yawning after a long day of searching for a means of transportation. We slept for the whole eight-hour ride, and when I woke up I was surprised to find that the three of us hadn't been attacked by monsters along the way. That had to be a new record.

As the train pulled up at the Pittsburg station in the morning, we got out, stretching and blinking in the soft early light. We still had an hour before the next train arrived, so we just sat on around a table in a nearby coffee shop, discussing our strategy for our quest.

While we were talking, I noticed something weird going on between Peeta and Maggie. It was the secret look they would share every time I was addressing Peeta, sort of like an inside joke. I didn't get it... what had they been talking about when I was asleep. Well, to Hades with that-maybe they were in love.

Somehow, that made me feel, I don't know, left out, like I was becoming a third wheel. Would they become a couple soon? It was a selfish thought, but I almost hoped that Peeta and Maggie stayed friends so I wouldn't become an outcast. There was another reason, too, but I didn't dare say it out loud, or I'd be a goner.

Finally, the train headed to Lexington, Kentucky was open for boarding, and that's just what the three of us did. We climbed onto the sleek white train, carrying our duffel bags and storing them in the compartment bins above our seats.

The train was going to depart in fifteen minutes, so there was already a steady stream of people trickling in through the open doorway. I wondered if any of them were monsters-hey, it's a good thing not to let your guard down in times like this. When all of the passengers were aboard, the train took off from the station and we were hurtling towards more mythological dangers at eighty miles an hour.

The first couple of hours were uneventful, if you didn't count the time where Maggie was throwing five peanut butter M'n'M's in the air at the same time and catching them all in her mouth. Her eyes bulged for a second and I was all prepared to execute an urgent Heimlich Maneuver on her when she grinned reassuringly, taking a bow. Peeta and I gave her a round of applause and Maggie laughed, popping another round of M'n'M's into her mouth.

The hours flew as we passed through the countryside, getting a fantastic view of lush green fields and meadows. At one point, Maggie and I spotted a herd of strangely dressed centaurs galloping beside the train, waving, flashing peace signs, and shouting things like, "_PARTY PONIES RULE_!" Some were carrying paint guns while others were wearing soda hats. I was confused, but Maggie explained to that most of Chiron's siblings were wild in more or less every way, and they could get pretty rowdy. They weren't the calm, civilized kind of centaur that my trainer was.

Also, during the train ride, a couple of dolled up girls came out of nowhere and started chatting Peeta up, completely ignoring Maggie and I. The two girls told us-or him, actually-that they were from Brooklyn, but they were traveling to Kentucky for a school dance competition. I frowned. Okay, the girls were nice enough, I guess, but, somehow, they looked suspicious. Maybe it was their overly sunny attitude or their interest in Peeta or their odd limp when they walked. Even their dance uniforms, which, for some reason, depicted a donkey (it made an interesting high school mascot), seemed suspicious to me. I mean, come on, they looked even more ridiculous than the crazy centaurs, and that was saying something.

I decided to trust my gut on this one, though I could be wrong. I glared at the dancers-Toni, the African American girl, and Trish, the blonde with big teeth-and shook Peeta's shoulder, trying to pull him away from them. "Can I have a word with you?" I demanded, not really trying to hide my distaste.

Peeta looked up at me, raising his eyebrows, but nodded all the same and let me drag him into a corner. I kind of felt bad for leaving Maggie alone with those girls, but she could handle a few moments of irritating "girl talk" better than I did.

"What it is?" Peeta asked gently, "Is everything okay?"

"No, everything's _not_ okay!" I hissed quietly, "There's something wrong with those two girls that were talking to you, I know it. Something's off."

"Who, Toni and Trish? They're just normal girls, Katniss. It's perfectly fine," Peeta insisted, now frowning a little. "I don't see a problem. Are you sure you're okay?"

Somewhere by our seats, I heard something spilling, like a hundred marbles being dropped to the floor, but I didn't pay any attention to it. My annoyance was rising faster than a hot air balloon on a windy day.

"I'm fine! There's just something about them that doesn't seem right to me!" I snapped, "And I'm sorry if they're too gorgeous for you to realize it, but I'm going to find out what's up with those two right now." I turned-only to see that Toni and Trish were gone. Poof. Disappeared.

And so was Maggie.

All Peeta and I saw was a mess of peanut butter M'n'M's which had spilled onto the floor of our compartment, with the bag or the owner nowhere to be found.

Well, call me crazy, but it only seemed fitting that two attractive female monsters would come and ruin our nice day by abducting my best friend.

• • •

**HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O. Please review! -Vivian**


	11. I am Kidnapped by Donkey-Girls

**A/N: Chapter eleven is here! By the way, I have a poll up on my profile that asks who Peeta should choose-Maggie or Katniss. I would really appreciate it if you checked it out and voted! Thanks so much, and enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated as well! -Sarah**

**~Hey-a guys! Well, sorry for the super long wait on my other story because I just finished finals AND I have writer's block for some reason. boooo. Anyways, please read and review! ~Vivian**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! Credits go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!**

Maggie~ I am Kidnapped by Two Donkey-Girls

Getting abducted by two maniacal half-donkey-half-teenage-Barbies was not exactly by definition of FUN. I didn't even get to finish my bag of M'n'M's, which was totally inconsiderate.

I hadn't really been suspicious that something was wrong, at first. The dancers looked like your average dolled up populars, but they didn't strike me as dangerous given a first glance. Now, as I was being pushed through the dimly lit corridors in the back of the train, I tried harder to see through the Mist and really take a good look at the two girls-and gasped. They both had glaring red eyes and teeth like a piranha's, but the thing that threw me off the most were their legs. The monsters' left leg was made entirely out of brass, like one of those peg-leg pirates. The other leg, in comparison, the right, was the hairy foreleg of a donkey's, complete with a hoof. Wow, that was all very attractive.

Connor-or was it Travis?-had told me a while ago that Percy Jackson had fought a pair of these monsters before the Battle of the Labryinth, but in his case, they had been disguised as two pretty cheerleaders. They were called _empousa_, I remembered, she-demons that killed men and drank their blood. And this, kiddos, is why you should NEVER date someone for his or her looks alone-who knows, they might turn into a blood-thirsty monster that will murder you in your sleep. Just a little piece of life advice that I'd been more than happy to share.

Anyways, Toni and Trish dragged me into the engine room of the train, where it was bright but musty. I wondered what the two _empousa _wanted to do with me because I wasn't all that good-looking. If they wanted handsome guy to kidnap, they should've taken Peeta Mellark.  
Peeta. My mind-not to mention my heart-was still extremely jumbled up over him. I had liked him ever since I had met him in the Rec Room at Camp Half Blood that day, but now, after our little nighttime talk, it was obvious that he had a huge crush on Katniss. I genuinely hoped that he and Katniss would get together because, like I said, it's much better to live as if miracles happened all the time than live as if miracles never happened at all. You have to look on the bright side of things, put your head up, and keep on going. They would make an adorable couple and would fight better as a team, too. Besides, I doubted Peeta had any eyes for me since he had fallen head over heels for Katniss. He wouldn't, and he shouldn't date me, for other reasons, too.

At the rate things were going, I might be dead in a week.

I realized that the two _empousa _had been telling me something, and I hadn't heard them because I was so lost in my thoughts. "What?" I asked, causing one of the monsters to snarl in annoyance and rake her claws across my cheek. I didn't even wince. When you've lost your grip and fallen off of a lava-spewing, fifty-foot-tall mountain during camp training before, it kind of boosts your threshold of pain pretty darn high. The three parallel cuts on my face could've been minor hangnails for all I cared.

"I said," Trish, the blond _empousa _sneered, "Hand over the silver shard at once, half-blood, or my friend and I will rip you to pieces. We all know that you're keeping it."

A cold feeling spread through me, reaching the tips of my fingers. How had the _empousa _known? Was it just a gamble that they had kidnapped me instead of Katniss or Peeta, or was it something else? We planned to rotate the shard around the three of us, just like the Kobaloi had done, so none of us would have it for more than a day. It was a matter of safety.

The scrap of metal grew heavy in my left pocket, and I gulped. "Who are you working for?" I said, deadly quiet, "Hippolytus won't be too happy if you kill me."

The _empousa _sneered. "Your patron, the same one as ours, doesn't trust you anymore, dearie. You are to collect the shards and hand them over to us, and from there we are to deliver them to Hippolytus."  
"Well, what am I supposed to tell my friends?" I protested.

"_Friends_?" Toni screeched disapproving, "Oh, we're sure you'll think of something sweetie."

Trish was right on her heels, "Yes, Maggie. Now, where's the shard?"

"I don't have it," I told the two monsters, trying to keep my voice from wavering and sounding brave instead. I smiled to gain confidence, "You've gotten the wrong quest member, girlies."

Toni and Trish looked taken aback for a second, their eyes narrowing nervously. Then, Toni whispered something into her demon friend's ear, and Trish rolled her eyes, baring her teeth. It was a combination that made her look like a sassy piranha, to say the least. Abruptly, the blond _empousa _grabbed my throat and pinned me against the wall of the train, effectively cutting off my oxygen. "I'm only going to tell you one more time before I tear your puny little demigod throat out," she growled threateningly, "Give. Me. The. Shard."

The smile remained on my face as I raise my hands in a placating gesture. "Fine," I said calmly, "Here it is." I reached into my right pocket slowly. No sudden moves...

Fast as the fastest daughter of Hermes could be, I whipped out my Celestial Bronze pocketknife and swung it in a wide arc at Trish, who shrieked in irritation-like she had just discovered that the cutest boy at school was already taken-and disintegrated immediately.

Toni, her friend, growled at me hatefully and let out a long, high-pitched wail. It sounded like... an alarm. A signal. She was calling more _empousa _to her aid, I realized, and who knew how many would be coming soon? I was about to throw my knife at her temple when, out of nowhere, there was a sudden WHOOSH of air and a golden arrow lodged itself into Toni's neck. The _empousa _gasped in outrage and burst into a column of flames, so bright that I had to shield my eyes and look away. In a few seconds, the fire had disappeared, and where Toni had been standing moments ago were Peeta and Katniss, who had her bow loaded.

"Any others?" she asked, and I shook my head, saying, "Thanks."

Katniss nodded and lowered her bow, returning the arrow to the sheath. "What happened to your cheek?" she asked.

The claw marks were still stinging, but I just shrugged. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Peeta grinned appreciatively at me over her shoulder, "Nice idea, by the way, leaving that trail of M'n'M's. We never would have found you otherwise."

I grinned back but a look of confusion quickly crossed over Peeta's face. "Wait a second..." he said slowly, "Did we really kill that _empousa_, Toni? I've never seen or heard of a monster spontaneously combusting before, they've only disintegrated into a cloud of yellow sulfur."

"No," I replied grimly, "It's a clever little trick of the _empousa_, but Toni's not dead yet. She's just gone somewhere, probably to bring in her sister reinforcements and kill us all. She was signaling them with that wail after I destroyed Trish, I can tell."

Katniss bent down and picked up her arrow from the ground, which hadn't even been singed by Toni's fire. She wiped the soot off of it with her fingers and dusted them on her pants. "Well, aren't you Miss Sunshine?" she said dully, but I could hear the undercurrents of grudging approval in her voice. "Come on, let's get back to our-"

Suddenly, a loud THUMP sounded all around us, and the engine room shook dangerously. I was thrown backwards against the wall again, fighting to regain my balance. Peeta and Katniss were having the same problem, and all I could say was:

"Too late."

The _empousa_ were here.  
"Guys, give me a boost!" Katniss shouted, motioning to the hatchet on the roof. "We have to get on the roof, chase them off before the mortals get hurt!"

Because she was the lightest of us, Peeta and I rushed over and each took one of Katniss's feet, lifting her up. Katniss pried open the metal trapdoor with her hunting knife, pushing it open with her free arm and using her own strength to climb out of it.

"Be careful!" I called up, be she had already disappeared through the door.

Peeta turned to me. "Okay, you're next," he said, offering me a hand, "I'll boost you-"

And that's when we heard the scream-Katniss's scream.

"Hurry!" Peeta exclaimed, lifted me up by my ankles as I tried to keep steady. I gripped onto the sides of the open door and pulled myself up. "Wait, what about you?" I asked him, looking over my shoulder.

He waved me off, unconcerned. "I'll be fine!" Peeta shouted, "_Go_!"

I nodded and climbed onto the roof... and found myself surrounded by more than half a dozen EMPOUSA.

It looked like the entire dance squad was present, as if they were showing up for rehearsal or practice. Toni was right across from me, glaring and holding a sharp claw to Katniss's throat, who had been knocked out cold. She had a deep, horizontal gash that was oozing blood across her forehead and her nose was broken, too.

Oh, and did I mention that we were traveling directly over a cliff-a hundred feet above a sparkling blue lake?

There was a rustling noise behind me-two more _empousa _trying to grab me, I thought-and I spun around, slashing my sword at the monsters before they could even get three feet near me. Both of the intruders howled and disintegrated, but I had gotten so distracted by it that I hadn't seen one of the other _empousa _advancing on me until it was too late.

A hairy donkey leg karate kicked me square in the chest, so hard that I went flying backwards, almost falling off the side of the train. That wouldn't have been a blast, since we were moving at breakneck speed. I cringed, trying to get some air back into my lungs as the remaining EMPOUSA hissed with laughter.

Toni tossed an unconscious Katniss to the _empousa _who had kicked me, a short Asian girl with curly hair, and planted her donkey hoof onto my neck. She leaned down and stuck her pretty face right in front of mine as I struggled. "Not so fast, now, are you?" Toni taunted, "Any last words before we kill you and capture your friend here?"

FRIEND. As in, singular. That meant that the monsters hadn't gotten their hands-er, _claws_-on Peeta yet, so at least he could have my back. I grinned.

"Yeah," I said, "Would you like a breath mint?"

I struck out, like lightning, and punched the _empousa's _face, hopefully giving her a black eye. She howled, and I took advantage of her momentary disorder to grab her shaggy donkey leg (note to self: never do that ever again, that _empousa _really needs to shave) and used my momentum to throw her right off of the train's roof. Toni wailed and hit the ground below, disintegrating on the spot. Nice.

Then, I stood up shakily (for all you mortals or demigods out there, do NOT try this at home) and steadied myself into a fighting stance, drawing my sword this time. This felt like a total James Bond, Double-O Seven movie, the Greek version.

The last four _empousa _looked at me murderously, like they couldn't believe that I had just chucked their dance captain off of the roof to her death, and charged straight at me. Yippee.

I sidestepped, whirling and slicing like a maniac. At one point, a voice yelled, "Maggie, _duck_!" and I hit the roof as a Celestial Bronze spear sailed over my head, impaling the Asian _empousa _in the stomach. Peeta appeared next to me and picked up his spear, fighting by my side.

"How'd you get up here?" I asked incredulously, stabbing another _empousa _with my sword as it screamed in rage and disintegrated.

"Long story!" Peeta shouted over the roar of the train, ducking a swinging claw, "Actually, uh, short story! But I'll explain later-Katniss is safe by the way!"

"Good!" I replied, "Thanks for the-"  
I got cut off as an EMPOUSA slammed her elbow into my chest, sending me sprawling over the edge of the train.

"-_help_!" I finished.

I was dangling by one hand on the side railing of the train, hanging suspended over open air as we barreled along at eighty miles per hour. And, of course, it had to be the side facing the lake.

The last EMPOUSA glanced down at me and sneered evilly. She had disarmed and knocked Peeta over when he had been distracted. Now, my friend was flat on the roof, and I was scared to see how much blood he was losing. There was a dripping puddle of blood around his stomach, which was growing rapidly.

_This is it_, I thought desperately, _we've failed_.

Then I noticed that my free hand was still clutched around the leather grip of my sword, and I knew what I had to do.

The _empousa _was holding Peeta's spear in her hand, ready to finish him off.

I looked down at my sword again.  
I looked back at the _empousa_.  
Time slowed down, like Peeta's great-granddad was messing with things again.

As my fingers slipped from the railing, I threw my sword straight at the last EMPOUSA.

My sword impaled itself into the monster's back and it disintegrated before Peeta could be hurt any more.

Peeta screamed.

My fingers lost their grip completely.

I fell to my death.

And I blacked out before I even hit the sparkling blue water, a hundred feet below.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Percy~

The second Annabeth was dragged off of the stage and disappeared out of my sight, I went into auto-panic mode for the rest of the interviews. I was so distracted that my own interview went something like this-

Caesar: So, Percy, how do you feel about your excellent training score of a twelve?

Me: Sure, the pizza here is great.

Caesar: (laughs) Percy, the nerves are getting to you. Is there anything you'd like to say to the fans here that might give you some confidence?

Me: Well, there's always Finnick Odair. He's available.

I think about ninety-five percent of my "fan base" pretty much disintegrated like a dead monster at that moment, but I couldn't have cared less. The last thing I wanted to do was to look out for the audience's happiness.

The buzzer signaling the end of my interview rang, and I bolted off the stage like a rabid roadrunner. I took my seat and tuned out the rest of the interviews; I was too sick and worried about Annabeth to listen, and, besides, my ADHD helped, too.  
What were they going to do to my girlfriend? Would they-no, I couldn't stand the thought-kill her? Would they erase the threat of the rebellion permanently?

I didn't want to find out.

The interviews were almost over when something caught my attention. The little twelve-year-old girl from District Twelve was being interviewed by Caesar. Her name was Primrose Everdeen.

_Everdeen_. It was Katniss's sister.

Annabeth had already probably noticed her, but I suddenly realized that Katniss had volunteered in place for her sister, and that was how she had ended up in the Hunger Games.

It was the least Annabeth and I could do and get Prim out of that arena alive.

Even if there was supposed to be only one victor, somehow, we'd find a way.

I learned that Prim had gotten an eight out of twelve in training and, also, that her sister went missing on the day before the reaping. She cried a little when she said that. The audience moaned in sympathy but this only confirmed my suspicions: Katniss Everdeen loved her sister very much, and I wasn't going to be the one that got her killed in the arena.

The interviews ended after a few more minutes of drabble and the tributes were driven back to the Training Center, where we were supposed to rest up before the Hunger Games started tomorrow.

At first, Annabeth was still nowhere to be found, but relief washed over like a tidal wave (and, believe me, I know what it feels like to get hit by one of _those_) when I saw her being ushered inside the building by a pair of Peacekeepers.

As much as I wanted to run to her and give Annabeth a gigantic hug, I stayed put and caught her eye.

Subtly, she lifted her index finger and pointed upwards. "Roof," she mouthed silently, and I nodded. Annabeth was probably going to fill me in on what had happened when she was gone.

I lost sight of her as I dodged paparazzi and several maniacal fangirls (so, apparently, my "fan base" was still intact, more or less). They slowed me down as I willingly (read: was forced to) sign autographs for them, holding out posters and t-shirts and arms. After what felt like a billion cheek-kisses-I wiped off the lipstick before Annabeth could notice-and picture poses, I finally managed to slip into the Training Center.

I straightened the crinkles in my suit, which my stylist almost had to wrestle me into, and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button that was marked "roof". The elevator doors closed and I started to slowly ascend. Thank the gods there was no cheesy elevator music here-I was sick of hearing "raindrops keep falling on my head" every time I visited Mt. Olympus.

8...9...10...11...12... The elevator was rising, and so was my anxiety. I was wondering where the Peacekeepers had taken Annabeth after her interview, but hopefully she would explain everything before we got some sleep for the Games.

I reached the roof after a few moments and the elevator doors opened with a DING. I looked around, trying to find Annabeth. She might not have been here yet-oh, wait, there she was, leaning on the railing...

...and kissing her rival district partner that I thought she hated, Cato Leerman. Her hands were on his shoulders and HIS hands were tangled through her golden blond hair. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the stomach with a rusty dagger. This could not, _was _not happening. It was impossible.

The world flipped upside down.

"_Annabeth_?" someone cried. I think it might have been me.

Annabeth and Cato broke away from each other. About _time_.

"Percy!" my I-don't-know-what-she-is-to-me-anymore-girlfriend said. At least she had decency to look guilty.

My mouth tasted like sandpaper. "I'm sorry. I don't know who you are anymore."

If I had been paying attention, I probably would've seen the message that Annabeth was trying to tell me with her eyes, the message the would've told me that things weren't what they looked like. But I wasn't, and I didn't, so I simply scowled-frankly, I was surprised that I didn't scream in frustration, or worse-and put my back to them, crossing my arms over my chest.

Numb. That was all I felt. Not angry, or jealous, or confused, or upset... but numb. Like a big gaping hole of nothingness had opened up in the middle of my chest and would never go away. I felt like I had lost Annabeth in some way, even though she was standing right behind me, hand in hand with that monster.

As I turned around to glare at her in disbelief one more time, I saw a curious look in her eyes-it wasn't one I saw that often. It was the kind of look Annabeth wore when she had succeeded it something, but wasn't happy with her results in any way.

I stormed into the elevator and jammed my fist on the button marked "four", and I started to quickly descend, my thoughts whirling faster than my emotions now.

Annabeth...

What had happened when she was taken away by the Peacekeepers after her interview? The show had gone on, of course, but the president had been missing the rest of the time. What had he told her that would've made her like this? What had he done? Had he and the Gamemakers brainwashed her, turned her into one of the Capitol's pets?

But, then, there had been that moment when our eyes had met outside of the Training Center. She had clearly pointed to the roof when she had looked at me. Why, though? Did she want me to witness her and Cato having their little romantic reunion? No, Annabeth wasn't as cruel as that. It didn't make any sense.

Wait... maybe it did.

Maybe Annabeth HAD wanted me to see her and Cato kissing. There was no other way to explain why she had signaled for me to go to the roof. It had to be a part of some plan she was devising.

The question was, _what_plan?

There had to be a reason why Annabeth was acting like this. And I was determined to find out what it was.

**A/N: SPOILER ALERT. PERCABETH is not dead, don't worry.**


	12. My Death Sentence is Carried Out, Sorta

**A/N: 6,000 words in three days. Oh, gosh. Anyways, I hope you readers out there enjoy this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it and I really like the overall theme of it! Read read read and review review review, please! Oh, and, if you hadn't done so yet, I would really appreciate it if you checked out a poll on my profile page. It asks who Peeta's girlfriend should be in this fanfic-Maggie, or Katniss?**

**Have a wonderful day guys and remember to smile!**

**-Sarah the Beautiful**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! All credits go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins.**

**Favorite PJO quote of the day: "The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car." -The Last Olympian**

Annabeth~ My Death Sentence is Carried Out, Sort Of

The second Percy stepped back into the elevators, the doors closing on him, I wanted to slap Cato (plus double slaps for myself) and run back to my real boyfriend. But, I knew that wasn't an option if I planned on getting Percy out of that arena alive, so I forced myself to stay put, no matter how many times I had to pinch myself.

Cato turned back to me with a malicious glint in his ice blue eyes. "Look, I think we were interrupted-"

"Bye," I interrupted him, turning away. But before I could get a few feet, Cato's hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me backwards, spinning me around so I could face him.

"Chase," he said slowly, as if he were trying to figure something out. "What is this all about?"

I jerked my arm away from his grip. "It has nothing to do with you!" I snapped, "Just get some sleep already, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"

Cato held me in place by my shoulders when I tried to stomp away again. Gosh, this was like walking on an endless treadmill. "You just stopped me from kissing you the second your 'boyfriend' left. So, I think it does have to do with me."

I blinked. "Wait, you... you DO really like me? I thought-I... you just wanted to help me get revenge on Percy. Because you, um, hate him, too," I spluttered. I had persuaded Cato to get back at Percy for humiliating him at training by kissing me and making Percy jealous, but I didn't realize the guy was actually in _love_with me. That was just... weird? Unexpected? Wrong? Right now, though, my train of thought had basically short-circuited into: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. Yep, that was me, Annabeth the Wise.

Cato leaned in closer a little, smirking, and I glared at him. Who did he think he was? I was about to sink my fist into his face and give him a nice black eye for good measure when the stupid brute leaned in just a tiny bit closer and-

Too late, my fist was much faster than his lips. I punched him so hard that Cato was sent staggering back in shock, his jaw dropping. Okay, this romantic-but-not-really-romantic-at-all stuff was going to end now, I would be sure of that.

"Thanks, but, no thanks," I said, now walking to the elevator unopposed as I left my rival gaping like a fish. "'Night, Cato."

I jabbed the button labeled "two" and descended down the Training Center, right into my own apartments. I half-dragged myself to my bedroom and pretty much collapsed onto the soft mattress and warm sheets, falling asleep before my head had even hit my fluffy pillow.

It had been a long day.

-.-.-.-.-.

It was a good thing I had a restful night because I woke up the next morning to the sound of my ridiculous pink-haired manager yelling orders and saying that today was going to be "a big, big, big day!". I groaned and glanced at my clock, seeing that it read seven thirty-five, a.m. The tributes of the twelve districts would be flown to the arena a short distance away at eight-thirty, so I needed to be dressed and ready, quick.

After a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, I put on my fanciest outfit (a t-shirt and jeans, sadly). I was escorted out of the Training Center with Cato and we were put into a hovercraft, each of us getting injected with a tracker jacket stinger so the Capitol could keep tabs on us in the arena. We didn't say anything to each other for the whole ride-I mean, it's kind of hard to speak when you're immobilized by electrical currents, so.

We touched down near the arena and were escorted underground, where our stylists would be waiting with the outfits we would be wearing in the Games. A couple of Peacekeepers flanked by me as I was ushered into a small room to get ready with my own stylist, Cornelia. She dressed me in a sleek black jumpsuit, a thermal jacket, and boots, which every tribute would be wearing.

Twenty-three other tributes.  
Twenty-two of them were opposition for the crown, one of them was the person I planned to save, even though he didn't know it yet. I started pacing around the room nervously-it's an ADHD thing, I can never just sit still-and wondering how many days I had left to live. Probably not that much, since the Gamemakers planned to kill me off quick, so maybe one or two days at the most.

Suddenly, the door flew open with a _BANG_and a few cameramen holding microphones rushed in, along with several more marching Peacekeepers. They surrounded me and one of the Peacekeeper's droned, "Annabeth Chase, your speech, please. It will be broadcasted live for the world to see."

I stopped mid-pace and nodded anxiously. I had rehearsed most of it on the ride back to the Training Center, but I was still worried that I would say something wrong and somehow let President Snow kill Percy. I couldn't allow that to happen.

I gulped and ran my hand through my hair, turning to face the cameras. "Citizens of Panem," I started, "I am addressing those living in both the Capitol and the Twelve Districts. Last night, during the interviews-" I probably looked like I was trying to swallow acid when I said this "-I have said some things that were wrong, and I mean to take them back."

I went on about how the Hunger Games were perfectly fine and how we should continue them until the end of time (cheesy, much?). I talked about how there was no such thing as a silly "rebellion" and that the Capitol would crush any opposition right away. When I finished with that, I paused for a second, but before the camera could call "cut", I signaled that I had one more thing to say.

I straightened up as glanced down at my silver watch, the one the Peacekeepers had forced me to wear after Snow had left. It was impossible to remove, but it hadn't exploded, yet. So far, so good.  
That might change in a few seconds, though.

"One last thing," I said to the cameras. "I've told you that what I said last night was untrue and are nothing but rumors. However, I _do_, and always will, support a rebellion. We can make it happen _now_."

Those last two rebellious sentences were the only ones I was able to say before the cameramen quickly cut me off and the screens went blank.

Luckily for me, I was still alive. The watch's bands around my wrist retracted, and the stupid device fell to the floor with a _thud_. It was pretty tempting to squash the thing to pieces under my foot, but I was worried the explosives would be activated in some way. So, I played it safe and kicked the watch into a corner.

As the cameramen and Peacekeepers filed out of the room, I smiled up at the security camera above my head, where I knew he would be watching, furious that I had found a loophole to his deal.

"President Snow, I hold you to your oath," I said. Then I stepped onto my metal plate as it began to rise, bringing me into the arena.

The place was absolutely _huge_, and that was an understatement. There was the Cornucopia, a shining golden horn with weapons piled high in it, plus with other goodies spread around. A ring of the twenty-four tributes stretched around the Cornucopia, and to our right was a sparkling blue lake, while surrounding us was a wide expanse of green forest. It almost reminded of the forests back at camp, and I was _almost _wistful until Claudius Templesmith's voice rang out in the arena: "Ladies and gentlemen, let the seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.

Sixty seconds. That was how long we were required to stand on our metal plates-step off before the timer ends, and hidden mines will blow your legs off. Trust me, that would _not _be pretty. As the seconds ticked away, I spotted a steel sword lying at the foot of the pile at the Cornucopia. Perfect. The distance between the horn and my plate was only about forty feet, and I knew that I could sprint probably faster than any of the tributes could to get the weapon. I could run in and out before things got violent, right?

And then I saw Percy, maybe six or seven plates to my left, and he was shaking his head. Had he known what I was thinking? But how-

The timer beeped, the sixty seconds were up, and some of the tributes were already rushing to the Cornucopia to get their hands on the loot. I'd lost my chance! Seaweed Brain had distracted me for just a second, but that was enough for my competitors to take advantage of. So, I compromised and sprinted in ten feet to grab an orange backpack, running off into the forest as fast as I could.

Out of nowhere, I heard a whistle of air right behind my head, and I lifted up the pack to protect myself. A knife embedded itself in the tough material of the backpack, and I spun around, ready to face on my attacker. And, of course, it had to be Glimmer.

She was retreating, though, already looking for better victims in her range of throwing. Wait, just kidding.  
The blond Career girl was advancing on me with a whole arsenal of knives stored in her jacket, while I was armed with a backpack that could contain who-knows-what and a short dagger which was barely a foot long. Well, the odds were never in my favor to begin with, anyways.

In the blink of an eye, Glimmer threw another knife at me, and I sidestepped that one, quick. I had to get in close and knock her out before the rest of the Career pack came.

I sprinted at her, now armed with two good knives. I guess Glimmer had forgotten that she had about five times as many weapons as I did, because she just stood there, frozen. In a split second, I knocked her out with one swift kick to the temple, so fast that the girl didn't even have time to blink. The Career crumpled to the ground, but that was enough for me. I wasn't going to kill her-not even Glimmer deserved it-and I couldn't take the life of a mortal. We were all humans, by the loosest definition. I contemplated taking away each of her knives, but in the end I just shrugged off her jacket, which was loaded with a bunch of weapons anyways. Plus, the extra layer of clothing would keep me warm during the cold nights in the arena. Glimmer wouldn't be needing this anymore.

I could hear shouts from the distance-the other three Careers were coming, and I knew that I couldn't take on all I them at once. I made an easy decision and ran.

As I was fleeing from the site, I heard eight short cannon blasts, which meant that eight tributes had died in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. I prayed to the gods that Percy wasn't one of them, but then I remembered that there were no gods. Gods, this was annoying.

I don't know how long I kept on going, or how many times I looked over my shoulder to see if the Careers were chasing me (my last name hopefully wouldn't provoke them to). Maybe after several long hours, I collapsed against a nearby pine tree, breathing hard. I had kept up a steady pace of alternating running and jogging, sometimes allowing myself to walk. But, no one seemed to be pursuing me for now, so I stopped and rested for a while, checking the contents of my backpack. It held a pair of weird goggles that made my vision blurry when I tried them on, a pack of dried jerky, a box of crackers, and a canteen full of water. I held it up to my lips thirstily-scratch that, the container was empty. Seriously? How much would it have cost the Capitol to fill this bottle?

_Water_, I thought tiredly, _I need water_.

The only water source I had seen so far in this arena, though, was the lake near the Cornucopia. And I knew that I couldn't go back there, since the Careers had probably sent up camp at that place.

Another thing that bothered me even more than my thirst, on the other hand, was the fact that the Gamemakers hadn't tried to attack me yet. At least, Percy was safe, but I wondered when my own little death sentence would come.

_Come on, Annabeth, keep on moving_. So, I did, slowly, trying to find a water source as I went. I was just about to give up and call it a day when something rustled just ahead of me. My head snapped in the sound of the noise, which I guessed came from a nearby shrub.

Now, if there was one thing being a demigod and Hollywood movies have taught me, it's that you never, _ever _run towards a suspicious sound coming from something unseen. With my kind of luck (the terrible kind, obviously), the creature that made the noise would probably not be a unsuspecting squirrel, as many dumb characters would probably assume. Nope, the "harmless little critter" would most likely turn out to be a murderous, ten-foot-tall monster that wanted to eat you for breakfast.

And, geez, as if things could get worse, I was in the _Hunger Games_! Gamemakers would love the ruthless monster idea a lot more than the squirrel one, and I would be a heck of crazy if I wanted to run towards a unknown sound coming from a bush. The best solution? Run-_away_, and as fast as my legs could carry me.

Obviously, I didn't take the best solution. I walked slowly, cautiously towards the shrubbery, armed with two good knives in my hands. Well, maybe Seaweed Brain's stupidly-daring antics were rubbing off on me, but I had this weird feeling that things were completely safe.

Yes, I was insane. _Everyone _gets those feelings, but, _my _feeling came from the gut, not the mind. I had learned to trust my gut instincts a long time ago.

I walked toward the sound and realized that, in fact, it hadn't originated from the shrub after all. Instead, the rustling noise had come from above my head, in a tree. I peered up and wondered what could've made it, when, suddenly, I heard the noise again-this time, in another tree, farther up ahead. We're there two of these creatures or...?

I followed the sound to the next tree, but then I heard the same one in a _different _tree, a little bit ahead of me. Okay, I best guess was that there was a monkey jumping around and inhabiting these pine trees, and it was trying to lead me to something. I hoped it wasn't to my death.

I looked upwards, trying to see if more sounds would be coming and circling the base of the trunk. All of a sudden, I slipped on something squishy, so, I looked down and saw that I had been stepping in mud. Great, now my boots were-

Wait, _mud_. Where there was mud there was... water.

I was right. To my left, hidden in a clump of bushes, was a small pool of water. I gasped in relief and ran over to it, falling to my knees next to the edge. Carefully, I dipped my canteen into the pool and added a few drops of iodine to the liquid, purifying it. The half hour it took for me to wait was frustrating, but I was just glad to have a reliable water source. I forced myself to take a few sips of my drink at a time when it was finished, and I decided to just get some rest nearby. For the first day in the arena, things weren't as bad as I thought they would be.

I jinxed it, didn't I?

Because the second I started to find a comfortable place to stay for the night, a hissing sound came from right behind me. I instinctively leaped to the side as a fireball flew by my cheek. Where I had been standing a was the charred remains of shrubbery, and I turned around to face the new threat, drawing my knife. Fire-breathing dragons? No problem.

There was a second hissing sound as another fireball that came from nowhere barreled straight at me. I hit the dirt, then rolled over onto my side, dodging a third fireball.

The end was here, but I had to try and postpone it as long as I could. Maybe I could outlast it.

Without any debate, I grabbed my slightly-singed pack and ran deeper into the forest, zigzagging every time I heard a hiss. This was no solid creature that I could fight. Whole portions of the forest had caught on fire, and the heat was starting to rise rapidly as I pulled my t-shirt over my mouth to block out the smoke.

I couldn't see anything-I just ran blindly through the thick smoke, trying to escape the fireballs. I wished that I was Leo; he would have just walked straight at the fire and grinned maniacally, like _Ha, ha! Not today, losers!_

I entered a clearing that had been untouched, panting heavily. A ring of trees surrounded me, and the fire hadn't gotten to them yet, thankfully.

And then, I saw it-the wide metal cylinders protruding from each of the trees, and every one of them was glowing orange, aimed straight at me. I had walked right into a trap.

The hissing noise came, something that I had expected.

I was going to die, here and now.

There would be no one to save me.

The fireballs were released from their cannons. They were flying straight at me, and there was no escape this time. That rumor that your life would pass by your eyes just before you died? Bull. I didn't even see so much as a glance of a memory.

And just when I thought that I would've become a flame-broiled demigod tribute, someone knocked me to the ground, shielding every inch of me with his own body. The fireballs blasted straight at him and everything was on fire, but he still protected me as best as he could. No, no, _no_!

The fires receded, and for some reason Seaweed Brain hadn't been roasted like barbecue. There were severe burn marks on his back, though, and his breathing was shallow.

Oh my gods, _NO_. I wasn't going to lose Percy like this. Not here, not now, not ever.

He couldn't... couldn't be...

I got up quickly and cradled Percy's head in my arms as I tried not to cry pathetically.

"_Percy_," I whispered, not caring about Snow's deal at the moment. "You are _such _an idiot..."

I trailed off as he looked up at me with his beautiful sea-green eyes, gripping my hand and coughing weakly. "_Annabeth_," he said softly, and his voice made my heart shatter into a million pieces, mend them back together, and then break into tinier fragments again. "I knew there was a reason."

Then Seaweed Brain passed out right in my arms.

I sobbed, burying my face into his hair, but then I noticed that he was... drooling? Yes, drooling, like only my boyfriend could do-and snoring, too. Attractive, huh? I swear, I had never been happier to see him like that in my whole life.

Percy Jackson was bruised and burned and battered but still very much alive. And that was all I cared about.

Maggie~

The next time I woke up-which I thought would never happen again-I was underwater. And _breathing_.

When I opened my eyes, everything seemed a but murky. I found myself in an infirmary bed, my cheek and several other wounds on my body bandaged. A greenish light shone outside of a window to my left, giving me a beautiful panoramic view of a fish-centaur dude who had come with a wicked looking sword that he was probably about to kill me with.

"_Gah_!" I yelped, scrambling out of the bed and reaching for a sword that I didn't have. "Who _are _you?"

The creature with the torso of a man, the forelegs of a horse, and a fishtail just rolled his sea green eyes. "Calm down, Maggie Kay. You are not in any immediate danger here, I can assure you. My name is Triton, young half-blood," he explained. "My people are called ichthyocentaurs, and we are related to your trainer, I suppose, Chiron."

"Itchy? You're itchy centaurs?" I asked, frowning. Okay, now I was just lost.

"No, _ichthyocentaurs_. We are a race of aquatic centaurs, and we train our heroes here, just like you demigods have those camps to train your own heroes. To the ichthyocentaurs, I am the greatest hero and warrior of all time," he declared triumphantly, beating on his scaly chest. "Triton the Great."

"Don't forget 'modest', too," I said sarcastically, low enough so Mr. Greatest Hero of All Time couldn't hear. "Where are we, exactly?"

Triton shrugged. "Our race of ichthyocentaurs dwells in fresh water, so we are constantly shifting locations. One minute, we could be in a lake in Kentucky, and the next we could find ourselves in a spring in California. I have heard, however, that our Greek counterparts are _sea _dwelling creatures. They live somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, training their own heroes."

"So, you guys are Romans?" I asked, following him outside the infirmary. I found that I could walk as easily underwater as I could walk above ground. The spell the fish horse dudes had cast on me probably eliminated water resistance. "This is like... _whoa_."

I took one look at the Roman ichthyocentaur camp and became instantly blown away. The place was an _exact _replica of Camp Jupiter (Annabeth had sent us Greeks back home a few pictures via Iris message), except that everything was built out of limestone or silt or seaweed. The buildings were tall, majestic, and far below I could see a few itchy centaurs fighting in an open arena for some spectators. There was a forum and also a battleground for the weekly war games. Okay, this place was officially _freaking awesome_. I just wondered what the Greek version would look like, way over in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere.

"Miss Kay," Triton said, interrupting my admiration session, "There is a problem, however."

There always is a problem, isn't there?

"What is it?" I asked him.

"You have been given a glimpse if our most closely guarded secret. Therfeore, I cannot allow you to leave."

"What? Why?!" I exclaimed, "It's not my fault! _You _brought me here! Besides, I have to get back to my friends and help them save the world from an evil almost-invincible giant that has broken free from his chain before he destroys Western civilization and life as we know it!"

Man, that felt good.

By now, a few curious fish horse dudes had gathered around us, whispering and pointing at me. I felt like I was at the center of some kind of gossip-slash-rumor circle, and it made me uneasy.

Triton nodded, unconcerned. "I am well aware of that," he said, "However, the Council has not made their decisions just yet-"

"They have!" A ichthyocentaur strode up to Triton, his purple toga billowing in the breeze (wait, there was a _breeze _underwater?). "Lord Triton, I bring news!"

"What is it, Lux?" Triton asked, and the respective ichthyocentaur whispered into the leader's ear. He listened for a second.

"Yes, perhaps we _will _let you leave..." Triton said to me slowly, like he was repeating the words that he was hearing from Lux.

I sighed in relief. "Thank you," I said, gratefully inclining my head, "You won't regret-"

"On one condition."

Of course, it was too good to be true.

I gulped. "And what's that?"

Triton thought for a second, his expression unreadable. Then, he said, "To prove that you are a worthy demigod for your current quest, Maggie Kay, you will have to face off with one of our own warriors. If you win, we will set you free and allow you to continue your journey with your friends. And, if you lose... well, the Underworld awaits. You see, it is a battle to the death."

"Really?" I grumbled . "Got any more trig problems for me to solve or buildings to blow up?"

The truth was, I didn't want to fight one on one with an ichthyocentaur warrior. As I had learned, they were just like half-bloods, just heroes in training that wanted to live a full life and bring honor to their families. I didn't want to kill someone that was just the same as I was. I doubted I had much of a choice, though.

"_Romans_," I muttered exasperatedly. Then, I raised my voice so the fish dudes could hear me, "Itchy-uh, however you say it. I accept your challenge!"

Their leader smiled gleefully, as if he couldn't wait to see me fail epically and humiliate myself to the rest of centaur guys before I died.

"Maximus!" Triton shouted to the cluster of ichthyocentaurs gathered behind him, "Come out and face your opponent!"

The crowd parted to reveal an ichthyocentaur that was about a foot taller than me, with buffed up arms and menacing gray eyes. (Sure, this was _definitely _a fair fight.) Like the rest of the creatures, he had the front two legs of a horse and the tail of a fish, but otherwise he could have fit in perfectly with demigods. Maximus, I guess, looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, barely two years older than I was. Max (for short) was grimacing, as if he knew that he would enjoy this little battle to the death and even less than me.

The ichthyocentaurs made a ring around us, and Triton offered me a variety if weapons-swords, spears, daggers, shields, maces, axes, flamethrowers (though how they would work underwater I had no idea), bows and arrows-you name it, he's got it. Since I had lost my own sword at the _empousa _attack on the train, I picked out one that had about the same length and weight, so it felt familiar. I also chose a circular bronze shield, which would give me more offensive and defensive options in the fight. Maximus, on the other hand, armed himself with a pointed spear that was taller than I was and a polished, rectangular shield that could've served as my cabin's dining table back at camp.

We stood opposite of each other, near the edges of the large circle. This reminded me of the street fight scenes in those ridiculous Hollywood movies, except that we were underwater and were heavily armed with Greek/Roman style weapons. So, same difference.

Max and I were both tense with anticipation when Triton declared in a booming voice, "Now, _FIGHT_!"

Max lunged at me like a cobra, fast and deadly. I just had a split second to react, raising my shield to deflect the spear that he had tried to impale me with. That had caught me off guard, though, and now my opponent slammed his gigantic shield right against mine, using his brute strength to send me flying backwards and hitting some of the ichthyocentaurs in the ring. They pushed me back in as I steadied myself into a fighting position. Yeah, I was off to a wonderful start, all right.

I charged at Max this time, feinting to one side and swiping at his leg instead. He anticipated the trick and moved to intercept my sword, but that gave me an opening to push his spear arm away with my shield and attack his chest, slicing a wide arc. Neither of us were wearing armor, so a shallow cut opened up on Max's chest.

We fought on, and it seemed like Max and I were evenly matched. I had my speed, Max had his strength, and we both were pretty good swordfighters, which cancelled each other out. My Greek style of fighting (hacking and slicing and generally causing mass panic) countered his Roman style (sleek, structured jabbing moves that were no fun at all... but I might be biased). This was dragging on for eternity, or it sure felt like it, anyways.

I was getting tired, and I realized that the only way I could end this fight was to come up with a plan. The only problem: I was too intent on blocking Max's moves and staying alive to have much time to form one.

I decided to improvise.

I stepped back a little, holding my bloody arm and lowering my sword, like I was too tired to go on anymore. I didn't over exaggerate my act, thankfully (sometimes I got carried away), and Max fell for it. I almost think that he wanted to believe that I was exhausted so he could end things quickly. I couldn't blame him; this battle was anything but fun.

Sensing victory, the ichthyocentaur charged at me, his spear leveled. I pretended to raise my shield in weak protest, so he wouldn't get suspicious. Just as I was to become skewered and turned into a Maggie-kebab, I leaped out of the way as Max barreled past me. Slashing downwards with my sword, I snapped the shaft of his spear clean in half, kicking him in the back.

He stumbled, disorientated, and I struck the flat of my sword onto his arm that was holding the shield. As Max dropped it, I rammed into him as hard as I could with my own shield, knocking him down onto the ground. I found myself with my foot planted on top of his chest and my sword point right under his chin.

The ichthyocentaurs roared in approval, and Triton exclaimed, "Maggie Kay, you have prevailed! You are the winner! And now, it is time for Maximus to die-kill him!"

"Kill, kill, _kill_!" The crowd chanted expectantly, "Kill the unworthy hero!"

I didn't feel like I had won, though. Max was an excellent opponent, and he was one of the good guys, like I was! How could I just kill someone on the same team as I was? Someone with a history and a full life ahead of him? How could I be that cold blooded enough to end it?

The answer was obvious: I couldn't.

And as I glanced down and noticed for the first time that Maximus was wearing a commemorative clay bead necklace, one for each year at camp, just like the one I wore, I got the courage to say what I said next.

"No."

Triton's smile vanished, "I'm beg your pardon?"

"_No_," I repeated, stronger this time. "I refuse to kill him. His life is not mine for the taking, Lord Triton. You can punish me now, if you want, and never let me leave this place. Or, you could just kill me instead, you know."

With that, I dropped my weapons and kicked them over to his feet. It was prettiest much the rashest, boldest move that I had ever made, and that was saying something. I was basically putting my life in Triton's hands, and, well, let's just say that they weren't the best hands.

Triton wordlessly picked up my fallen sword from the ground and walked over to me. I swallowed. _Chill out, it's a great day to have your head chopped off_, I thought, miserably failing to be optimistic.

The leader of the ichthyocentaurs stopped right in front of me, raising the sword high above me. He brought it down-

-and impaled the Celestial Bronze blade at my feet.

_Why am I not dead yet_? I thought incredulously as Triton knelt down before me, gripping the hilt of the sword. "Maggie Kay!" he boomed triumphantly as the rest of the ichthyocentaurs cheered, "I declare you worthy of continuing your quest to defeat the giant Hippolytus! We will send you on your way to meet your friends at once!"

"WHAT?!" I asked, flabbergasted, "I thought... why-"

Triton straightened up and offered me the sword. I took it, open-mouthed and still not comprehending anything.  
"You have shown that you possess the two most important traits of a warrior: courage and _compassion_. You chose to spare what you knew was an innocent life while offering up your own, and that is why we think you are ready. These two traits are the key to your success, Maggie Kay. Strength and speed can only take you so far in battle."

"So, you _planned _all of this?"

"It was a test, Miss Kay," the fish horse dude explained, "You, see, you never really would have been able to kill Maximus. He's out greatest champion! However, if you had decided to finish him off for your own needs, we would have killed you, too. You are the only hero that has passed this test, the only hero to show us your courage and compassion in the face of death."

"I... I don't know what t-to say," I replied, stammering, as ichthyocentaurs congratulated me and pounded me on the back so hard that I saw stars.

Lord Triton smiled, extending his arm and clasping my hand in both if his. "Remember this day, Maggie. We wish you good luck on your quest, and may the gods be with you."

All of a sudden, I blacked out for the second time that day.

The next thing I knew, I was washing up on the shore of a different lake, soaked to the skin and holding in my hand the bronze sword the ichthyocentaurs had given me. I laid on the banks for a while until I realized that right in my line of vision was a pair of black hunting boots and a pair of gray sneakers. I traced them upwards and looked into the two faces of my two friends, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Both of their jaws had dropped to my level, which was pretty darn low.

I grinned. "Hi," I said, "Ready to beat up some monsters, or what?

**Why hello here, fellow readers! For those who are waiting for the next chapter of "Rachel Tover", expect it this week! It will be an extra long chapter! (I sound like a weatherman...) Anyways, please R&R, and for those who write stories like us, we'll R&R back! Thanks!**

**~Vivian**


	13. All Tangled Up (No Pun Intended)

**A/N: Hey there readers, how are you all doing? Hope you enjoy this exciting chapter! Thanks for the reviews and the continuous support, I really appreciate it! It gives me a reason to keep writing! Love you all!**

**~Sarah the Dorktastic**

**PJO quote of the day: The glass windows stretched from the floor to the ceiling, giving us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeleton army that had come to kill us." -The Titan's Curse**

Katniss~ All Tangled-Up (No Pun Intended)

My day was made when my best friend came back from the dead. She magically appeared right on the shore of Lake Cumberland, where Peeta and I had been searching for the shard ever since we had lost Maggie on the train. We had continued with our quest, doing our best to follow the directions of the map, and had been lead to this lake.

I felt like a useless quest member, the third wheel, again. I had been knocked out for the whole EMPOUSA battle on the train rooftop, unable to help either of my friends. Peeta told me how Maggie has sacrificed her life to save his, losing her grip plunging into the lake one hundred feet below. I was no savior, no hero.

Peeta and I had been scouring the shore of the lake for hours, but we hadn't found any shard. But when Maggie came back from the Land of the Dead (or so I'd thought), it was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and suddenly the quest had become possible to accomplish again. The three of us were complete, were whole once more. I felt that we could take on a whole monster army right here and now-like we were unstoppable, invincible.

Maggie explained to Peeta and I about her encounter with a Roman ichthyocentaur camp, and how she had been free to go when she had spared the life of the fish-horse warrior she was fighting. We exchanged stories, and by the time the three of us were finished, I was feeling worse than ever. Maggie was a true hero-she was just the same as Peeta. I, on the other hand, was a hostile, closed off kind of person that would kill without even batting an eyelash.

I stood up from our little lake picnic and walked a few paces away, frustrated-with what, though, I had no idea. I guess my nerves were pretty fried because when I felt a hand land gently on my shoulder, I jumped about a mile high. Paranoia, man.

"Katniss," Peeta said softly, "What's up?"

"Mt. Olympus," I replied stubbornly. I could be as uncooperative as anyone when I wanted to, and this was one of those times. "Now leave me-"

"Guys!" Maggie shouted frantically, running up to us in a hurry, "Look! Over in the water! I saw something, I don't know, it looked like the head of a dragon!"

"What?" I asked, alert now, "Where?"

"Just wait," Maggie said, "You'll see..."

Peeta and I gazed out at the water, which seemed calm. Still, I kept an eye out, and suddenly, I noticed that part of the lake was beginning to boil. Bubbles appeared on the surface like soup being cooked, expanding to its maximum then popping. Something was coming, and I had no doubt it wouldn't be good.

I was right. Out of nowhere, the head of a mighty dragon burst out of the lake, roaring and blowing a jet of fire dangerously.

No. Try _heads_. As in, plural. As in, if I stopped to count how many heads there were, I would be dead.

I gaped at the dragon-slash-serpent-like creature as it rose out of the water. It was as enormous as a four-story-tall building with each of its long necks wider around than my waist and each of the heads equivalent to the size of a large window. So abruptly that I barely had time to react, one of them shot out at the three of us, baring its poisonous fangs threateningly. It almost made me wish that I was facing another evil demon dance squad on the rooftop of a train moving at seventy miles per hour, one-hundred-and-fifty feet above the water.

"Watch out!" Peeta and I yelled at the same time, drawing our spear and knives respectively, bringing them down on the neck of the attacking head. We sliced it off with a sickening THUMP, and the head fell to the shore, decapitated. One down, nine-thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-nine more to go. I'm not really sure if I was exaggerating or if this was the actual truth. Either way, I didn't want to find out.

I was about to chop off another one of the beast's heads when-"DON'T!" Maggie cried, "Guys, stop! For every head you chop off, TWO more will grow back in it's place. This is a-"

"-Hydra," I finished, understanding dawning on me, "President Snow used this example as a simile for the Capitol and the rebels: 'For every head you chop off, two more will grow in its place. You cannot defeat us.'"

"Is this THE Hydra?" Peeta gasped, dodging a column of flame and pulling Maggie and I behind a tree. "You know, the one that was guarding Lake Lerna, which was an entrance to the Underworld? The one that Hercules defeated? I heard one if the satyrs back at camp talking about it."

"If I had a guess? I'd say it is," Maggie said grimly as she gazed up at the numerous heads of the hydra. "But I think the hydra is guarding something else..."

The three of us locked eyes. THE SHARD, I thought silently, and I knew that I was right.

"Okay, so how do we defeat it?" I said impatiently, "We can't just lob off all hundred of it's heads and get it over with. How did Hercules slay the hydra?"

Maggie thought for a moment. "Fire," she said finally, "Hercules burnt down the stumps of the necks so that the heads couldn't regrow themselves, and that's how he managed to defeat it. But he used torches, I think... do we have any matches?"

We all rummaged through our packs and produced two boxes in total, which equaled twenty-four matches overall. How we were going to get up close and to have enough time to light the heads on fire, though, I was absolutely clueless.

"Two of us can cut off the heads," Peeta offered, "Meanwhile, the other person can carry the lit matches, burning away the tips of the stump so it can't grow back."

"But what if the person who's handling the matches gets attacked by another head?" I argued, "They would be defenseless against it and would probably be killed in a few seconds. And anyways, we don't have enough matches-each of their flames can only burn one head before it dies out."

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "And you call _me _Miss Sunshine. But, anyways, you're right. There has to be another way, though..."

I pondered our situation for a little bit, knowing that we didn't have much time. I fingered my bow nervously-it was a bad habit that my dad also had, too-and ran my hand through my loose hair, which I had quickly braided to the side. Then, I got a better idea.

I pulled out one of my arrows from the quiver on my back and examined the tip. Then, I pulled out one of my hunting knives from my belt, contemplating something in my head. During the time I had been knocked out at the EMPOUSA attack, I received an interesting dream about how Celestial Bronze was formed. Demigods found the sacred metal all over the world. They were originally made by Hephaestus, god of the forges, who, when he threw an angry temper, released some of the metal scraps down to earth.

Hephaestus, if I remembered correctly, was the god of fire, too. He could control it to his will and summon it out of thin air if he wished. So... shouldn't the Celestial Bronze have some of the fire aspects that Hephaestus possessed, too? Like, maybe...

Carefully, thoughtfully, I lit one of the matches and held the fire to the Celestial Bronze blade of my hunting knife. _Hephaests_, I prayed silently in my head, _Please, help me_. Then, the blade caught fire so quickly that I almost dropped it, but it continued to sustain itself. The wind couldn't put it out, just as I had suspected-the flame would burn as long as we needed it to because it was intentional. Gosh, the periodic table was _seriously _missing out on this awesome kind of metal. Not even Imperial Gold was as wicked as this.

Maggie and Peeta looked at me like I was a genius, and I have to admit I guess this was what Albert Einstein felt like all of the time. I simply grinned.

"Doing your chemistry homework is very helpful," I said. "Come on!"

My two friends hastily set ablaze their Celestial Bronze weapons, and then, swallowing our fear as best as we could, we charged-straight at the hydra, which was probably the dumbest thing that we've ever agreed to do as a team. Three sort-of teenage half-blood heroes against a hundred-headed dragon monster? Yeah, those were excellent odds... for the hydra.

Well, you only get to kill a hydra one-hundred times (Y.O.G.T.K.A.H.O.H.T.), right? Maggie, Peeta and I really didn't have another choice.

Like a whip, one of the hydra's heads snapped out at Peeta, its neck encircling him in the fraction of a second and pulling him into the air, over the lake. "Peeta!" Maggie and I screamed at the same time and we both waded into the water, surrounded with our own fair share of murderous heads as we tried to get to him. Peeta had the situation under control, though. He brought his flaming spear down onto the hydra's neck and punctured right through it, burning the stump away. The head disintegrated with a roar of fury and so did the neck, dropping Peeta twenty-feet straight down into the lake below like an Olympic diver.

Peeta resurfaced almost immediately, dripping wet, the bandage over his stomach wound still intact, though. His spear, however, was still flaming like there was no tomorrow (how does that even work?), so I figured he'd be okay. Thankfully, the head he had just cut off hadn't regrown, and that's how I knew that our plan was working. Now, at least, we stood a chance against the hydra.

I fought like a maniac, slicing away at every hydra neck in sight with my flaming sword. I was singed my the hydras' flames again and again, but I didn't care. I was fighting for my life, at this point.

In the middle of the battle, I found myself fighting back to back with Peeta, Maggie, or both. We'd be separated in an instant, though, because there were just too many heads. Once, as one of the heads slammed into Maggie's stomach and sent her flying away, she complained irritably, "Seriously, why would they even want to have me for dinner? I'd taste terrible!"

Sometimes, a neck would wrap around me and hurl me up into the air, so fast that it felt as if I was falling in reverse. I slashed at the neck and it disintegrated, leaving me to fall for real to the lake below. After a few minutes, Maggie, Peeta and I were all soaked to the skin, which kind of helped the burns we were inflicted with by the hydra's flames.

This happened a few times, and on the third or fourth one, I was lifted so high up that I was towering above all of the heads. The neck that was holding me was making it hard to breath, pinning my arms to my sides so I wasn't able to use my weapons, which were dangling over open air. In addition to all of that, it swung me up and down, around and around, so it reminded me of one of the carnival rides the Capitol would have at their annual fair.

I was spinning around dizzily when I saw the arrow-the plain, wooden arrow with a crude silver shard as a tip which was sunk deep into the flesh near dragon's heart. My own heart stopped: I knew how much pain Tartaric Silver could inflict, even with a small cut like I had. The shallow cut on my hand had healed so slowly, and it always burned like fire. I had tried to hide the pain, but my hand was still hurting even today, and I couldn't take the bandage off because it was still bleeding continuously. It was like someone had cursed me with hemophilia.

Who had shot that arrow? I thought, trying to wriggling free of the serpent neck's grasp. Then, I chided myself for being so ignorant-who else would have been foolish enough? Obviously, this was the work of the giant Hippolytus.

And I was determined to undo it.

A flaming sword impaled itself into the neck that was holding me, and it disintegrated as I fell, hitting the shore of the lake and somersaulting. "'You okay, Katniss?" Maggie asked, lunging after her sword, which was sinking beneath the water. She resurfaced and shook her wet hair out of her face, clutching a bloody wound on her shoulder as I replied, "Yeah, I'm fine-nice throw, by the way. Where's-"

"Peeta!" Maggie screamed again, rushing to the aid of my friend. He was completely surrounded by more than half a dozen of the hydra's heads while bravely trying to fight them off. I sprinted after her, too, but then I noticed the two deep puncture marks on Peeta's right foreleg, which was oozing blood. It didn't take me long to put two-and-two together and come to a devastating conclusion: one of the hydra's heads had bitten Peeta with its fangs-its poisonous fangs.

Peeta Mellark was already dying.

_NO_. We had to get him out of this, quick... before it was too late.

"Maggie!" I yelled at her, "Grab Peeta and GET HIM SOMEWHERE SAFE! I'll fight off the hydra heads!"  
I had finally caught up to her even when she seemed to be running at forty miles per hour as she protested, "But-"

"Just GO!" I snapped, and we threw ourselves into the midst of the dangerous battle. Maggie tackled Peeta and dragged him out of the ring of heads as he struggled weakly, but somehow she managed to bring him onto the shore to tend his wound. I didn't see what she did next because I was too busy fighting for my dear life.

I ducked a singing column of flame overhead and stabbed upwards at a random neck, causing it to disintegrated, the head falling to the ground. I jumped onto the other neck as a head tried to snap at me with its long fangs and sliced at it with my free hand. I didn't even look to see if it disintegrated of not because I was already slicing at another neck to my other side. One of the remaining heads blasted fire at me, and I felt my arms beginning to blister from the intense heat as I shielded myself by lunging at the back of a different head. Once the fire resided, I decapitated the head I had been ducking behind and threw my left knife at the head that had breathed flames at me, sinking it deeply right in between it's yellow eyes.

I sensed another head behind me as I heard a small _whoosh _of air and sidestepped, slicing down at its neck. I jumped and somersaulted over a head that was about to ram into me from the side. Gosh, there was just so many of them that I could be fighting for eternity. It curved its neck and came at me again, fangs bared, but this time I was ready for it. In the fraction of a second it took to reach me, I threw my remaining flaming knife straight down its throat. My knife stuck a couple feet through the neck, puncturing and burning it away. The head gave a surprised roar and fell to the ground, disintegrating along with the neck.

I picked up both of my still flaming knives and backed up a bit, wiping the dirt off my cargo pants. There was still about seventy heads left, and most of them were pointed in my direction, hissing in disapproval loudly. The battle against two demigods and one mortal apparently lasted longer than they had thought it would, but now it was over-I was going to die, Peeta was going to die, then the hydra would eventually gulp up Maggie, too. Then, my eyes fell on the wooden arrow and silver shard embedded into the hydra's heart, and I remembered again what I was trying to do this whole time.

_That's why it's attacking us_, I realized sadly, _The hydra is in so much pain that it needs to feed on something else to lessen it._

Oh, no, here comes the crazy suicidal plan that had .01% of working and 99.99% of me being snapped up and eaten by the hydra. Great. Still, I decided to go along with it, anyways-I didn't exactly have any better options.

"_HEY, HYDRA_!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, "_OVER HERE!_"

Now, _all _of the heads were turned towards me, venom dripping from their fangs. I had the hydra's whole and undivided attention, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.  
Then, slowly, I extinguished the flame in my knives by thinking "stop" and let them fall onto the shore of the lake. I held up hands in a peaceful gesture, hoping the serpent monster would understand.

"I'm not going to hurt you any longer," I told the numerous heads, "I come in peace, and I am here to help heal you."

Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought that the hydra relaxed a little. Its eyes were still alert, but some of the heads had stopped baring their fangs at me suspiciously, so that was a start.

I waded into the water and approached it slowly, keeping my arms out at my sides so I wouldn't provoke the hydra. The heads followed me as I walked closer to the monster's main body, but none reared out at me or breathed fire. At least, not yet.

"_Katniss_!" Maggie shrieked from across the shore, "What do you think you're-"

"I'll explain later," I told her, not looking back.

I was standing right in front of the hydra now, my heart pounding at a billion miles an hour. If anything went wrong...

My arm shaking a little, I extended my hand and took hold of the wooden arrow shaft. Some of the heads snarled while some hissed in discontent, making me look up.

"It's okay," I said, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice, "I'm going to pull the arrow out, is that alright?"  
The serpent monster was still, unmoving. I didn't even get so much as a blink (did hydra's even blink?). Carefully, I slid the arrow out of the hydra's flesh. I finally freed it and its remaining heads gave what sounded of a sigh of relief. Their yellow eyes seemed to say: _Thank you. Now, I won't have to eat you for a snack. It's a shame though... you look tasty._

I smiled, and, arrow in hand, watched the serpent sink back beneath the surface of the lake, the waters becoming tranquil again. Part of me was jumping up and down in triumph, while the other part was wondering how I was still in one piece. I wasn't going to complain, though, this was so much more than I had hoped for in the first place.

Then I remembered Peeta, and all the worries came rushing back to me like a girly girl moving to untag herself from an ugly Facebook picture. Which was to say _fast_.

I ran at full speed to where Maggie had lain Peeta down on a soft bed of grass and flung myself down by his side, everything else forgotten. Maggie told me that she had poured some nectar onto the wound and coaxed him to eat some squares of ambrosia, but Peeta still looked terrible. His face was pale and beaded with sweat, and Maggie had to keep changing fresh bandages onto his wound every ten minutes.

Peeta slowly focused his bright blue eyes onto me. "Katniss," he said weakly, and I was scared to hear how distant his voice sounded, like the boy with the bread was already slipping away from me.

"_Don't_," I ordered, "You're not dying on me, jerk face. Not today."

Peeta coughed, "Yeah, well..."

He was going to argue. He was going to say that, despite our best efforts, he was going to die. Maybe he accepted it, but I wouldn't, COULDN'T accept the fact that, soon, he was going to be gone forever. And that's when I realized that I needed Peeta Mellark in my life, needed him so desperately that I couldn't survive without him.

Three powerful words, eight life-changing letters. Was I ready to say them? Not yet.

But I didn't really know what else to do, so I can't exactly explain my actions. It all happened so fast, and I wasn't sure if I was even thinking or not. I leaned down and kissed Peeta, a soft, butterfly kiss that lasted half a second. All of the blood rushed to my head. My heart rate accelerated and broke the speeding limit by a few hundred beats per minute. I felt his lips curve into a smile as they were pressed to my own. Somewhere to our left, Maggie Kay chuckled and said what sounded like, "What the Hades, Aphrodite? It's about time."

I pulled away and locked eyes with Peeta. "If you die on me, I'm going to _kill _you. Is that understood?"

Peeta smiled. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, just before he passed out cold.

Boys.

-.-.-.-.-.  
Percy~

When I woke up, I felt like my insides had been microwaved, which, I can tell you firsthand, is not a pleasant feeling. I was in a grove of trees, surrounded by lush green thicket all around and lying propped up against a large oak tree. I saw Annabeth, several yards to my left, gathering edible berries from a nearby bush, and the memories came flooding back-the chase, the fireballs, then knocking Annabeth down onto the ground and protecting her from the flames. I wasn't exactly flammable, being the soon of Poseidon, but the fires burned just the same. It was like when I was being turned into a human torch by telekhines a couple of years ago, when Annabeth and I had been venturing in the Labryinth. My back was blistering painfully, but I managed a grin and weakly called out to Annabeth.

"Hey, is it hot in here, or is it just me?" I asked.

My girlfriend turned so abruptly that she spilled all of the berries onto the ground, startled. "_Percy_!" she cried, running at me and giving me a bear hug that probably cracked some of my ribs. She buried her face in my hair as I gave her a light kiss on her forehead.

"It's okay, I'm alive," I said reassuringly, stroking her hair. Annabeth then pulled away with such a stern look that I immediately thought I had done something wrong.

"What?" I asked kind of defensively.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Way to be Captain Obvious, huh? Seaweed Brain, of course I knew you were alive. You were drooling."

Score one for the Wise Girl, zero for me. Hooray. Well, I just grinned some more, at least, until a sudden thought hit me.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked quietly. "You know, why did you kiss him?"

Annabeth looked nervous. She ran her fingers through her beautiful golden blond hair and her gray eyes grew even stormier. "It's a long story," she mumbled unenthusiastically.

"We have a lot of time."

My girlfriend sighed. "Alright," she said-in Greek. And that's how I knew that she had been keeping a big secret from me, one that the Capitol wasn't allowed to hear, so I mentally prepared myself for the whole story. This was going to be interesting.

Annabeth sat beside me, leaning on the oak tree, and told me everything, from moment she had been dragged away right up until this very second. The entire story was in Greek, but I managed to get through the whole thing without having a major headache. She told me about her deal with President Snow and how she had promised to grant me immunity from the Gamemakers in exchange for a speech to put down any rebellions... along with her own death. She told me about how she had to get me to break up with her by kissing Cato. I felt terrible again, guilt gnawing from the inside of my stomach. How could I have let Annabeth go through all this? It was all my fault. I was a lousy protector and a lousy boyfriend, and I didn't deserve Annabeth.

"Percy," my girlfriend said, snapping me out of my thoughts and staring straight ahead. "Tell me... If you had been in my position, would you have done the same thing for me?"

I didn't even hesitate for a split second. "Yes."

"Then, stop beating yourself up. It's not your fault; it's mine," Annabeth replied as she took my hand and squeezed in reassuringly, like it was the only thing in the world that she was sure of. And I knew that I felt the same way.

"Wait," I said suddenly, in Greek. "If you agreed to President Snow's offer to stay away from me, I should leave. I'm just putting you in more danger, and that's the last thing that I want to do." I was about to stand up and go when Annabeth grabbed my arm, pulling me down again.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said, "President Snow never set any time frame for the deal. He never said "stay away from Percy Jackson for the duration of the Hunger Games". That means, he still has to honor his deal and keep the Gamemakers from killing you off. The Gamemakers can send everything they've got at me but they can't hurt you at all. I, on the other hand, am already dead, so it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," I said softly, "You know I'd do anything to protect you or just to be with you. If we were dangling on the brink of Tartarus and I was holding on to you by one hand, I'd let go of the ledge and fall into the the pit of endless darkness with you. I promise-you're not getting away from me. Never again."

Annabeth smiled a little. "As long as we're together."

We sat in silence for a while, not letting go of each other's hands. I was afraid that if we did, the Capitol would tear us apart and I'd never see her again. Death would be the easier option.

"The last one standing wins," Annabeth said out of nowhere, breaking the silence, "There can only be one victor."

"I know."

"I don't intend it to be me."

"I do."

I was surprised how quickly the change happened. How, all of a sudden, my biggest friend in the arena had become my biggest enemy, my biggest adversary. I looked into her stormy gray eyes and I promised myself that I would defeat her plans-I had nothing left to lose besides Annabeth herself.

That's when we heard the scream of a twelve-year-old girl echo through the forest.


	14. I Get the Privilege to Blow Stuff Up

**A/N: Hey, there, my awesome readers! I just want to thank you all for the amazing reviews I've been getting this past week! They keep me motivated so much, and the reviews inspire me to write more and more! I love you all! Have a nice day, kick back, relax, and enjoy this chapter narrated by none other than your wonderful Seaweed Brain!**

**-Sarah the Dorktastic**

**PJO Quote of the Day: "I need to use the dam restroom." "And I want to get some dam fries." Zoe: "I do not understand..." -The Titan's Curse**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! All credits and rights go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins, my two role models!**

Percy~ I Get the Privilege to Blow Up Stuff

The little girl's scream was followed by another, high-pitched one shrieking, "_Rue_! Where _are _you?"

Annabeth and I looked at each other and we simultaneously got up, grabbing our supplies and sprinting in the direction of the screams as we drew our weapons. I had managed to grab a short sword that had been in my range before I ran off into the woods-I really hoped that I wouldn't need to use it, though.

Annabeth and I crashed through the underbrush, branches scraping our arms and faces. We followed the horrible screaming and finally reached another clearing, this one surrounded by bushes and shrubs. And in the middle of it was a little girl, entangled in a net made out of woven strands of tough rope. She was the twelve-year-old tribute from District 11... who had a bloody spear impaled in her small stomach.

A wave roared in my ears, and I looked up to see the boy from District 1, Marvel, looming over the girl. His hands were empty of the spear that he had just thrown.  
How did he... _could _he just kill her like she was some kind of disgusting animal? It wasn't right. This whole thing wasn't right.

I hefted my sword-but then I stopped. I couldn't kill a mortal. That would be breaking the number one demigod rule of all time, and I couldn't do that to Chiron. Well, if I wasn't allowed to finish him off, I'd probably just knock him out instead.

Annabeth and I lunged for Marvel at the same time, aiming the blunt of our weapons at him. The boy, weaponless, tried to shield himself and run away, lifting up his pack over his shoulder to protect his head. I was about to chase after him (which probably wasn't the smartest idea seeing as he could easily lead us into an ambush by the Careers) when, out of nowhere, a stone the size of my fist flew straight Marvel's temple from the side and struck it, hard. The District 1 boy gasped in surprise and stumbled, and the twelve-year-old girl tribute from District _Twelve_, emerged from the bushes, a sling-shot in hand. Primrose Everdeen.

She gave Marvel a temporary second of distraction as Annabeth and I finally reached him, tackling him to the ground. He groaned, but I quickly knocked him out by slamming my hilt down on his forehead. A bruise was already forming, though at least he was still alive (even though he deserved a lot worse).

The tiny, frail voice of Prim brought me out of my ravings. Her hands trembling, she dropped her sling-shot and asked, shaking, "Did you... did you two kill Rue? Or was it him, that District One boy?"

It took me a second to figure out who she was talking about, but Annabeth had already gotten up and put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "It wasn't us, Prim-this boy here killed Rue."

"Good," the girl said fragilely, as if she would break any second. "At least I know I've got the right person."

Annabeth frowned sadly, stroking Prim's arms soothingly. "We're so sorry, Prim. We'll keep you safe, though, I promise."

Prim began to cry silently. "Why are you doing this?" she asked between hiccuping sobs, "Why are you helping me? Tributes are supposed to kill each other."

I stood up, too, brushing the dirt off of my pants. "It's what your sister would have wanted us to do," I told her. "I, uh... knew her a long time ago. Back in District Twelve. Yeah. Katniss said she loved you a lot."

Prim's big blue eyes widened like saucers. "You're from Twelve? How come I've never seen you?"

"My family left when I was young to move to District 4. They wanted a better life for us," I replied, lying pretty efficiently for a guy who's been out of practice in a while. I blame the Romans-you can't get away with _anything _at Camp Jupiter. The Stoll brothers and most of the Hermes kids would've hated it.

Prim nodded and pulled away from Annabeth's hand, slowly walking back to Rue's body. "Thank you," she said quietly, "I need to take care of something, though." Prim knelt down, picking a bouquet of colorful flowers from a nearby patch. Annabeth looked at me meaningfully, like _Seaweed Brain, you can take a hint, can't you?_, and we did the same, choosing from a variety of vibrant forest plants. We carried them over to Rue silently, but we would have to work fast before the hovercraft came any minute. I cut away at the net with my sword and freed the spear from Rue's small body as Annabeth and Prim laid flowers all around her. They covered the ugly wound, made a soft little bed out of yellow daisies, and braided Rue's dark brown hair with the flowers, too.

_Let's shame the Capitol for what they've done_, I thought triumphantly as the hovercraft appeared in the sky, lowering its long claw. _Let them see that they've murdered an innocent, twelve-year-old girl_. _Let them see that they're responsible for her death._

The cameras would have to show it. There was no other way out.

"It's like she's sleeping," Prim whispered, as if she didn't want to wake Rue up. As some sort of goodbye, the girl pressed her pinky to her thumb in a three-fingered gesture, holding it out of Rue. Annabeth and I wordlessly did the same, and I could've _sworn _I saw a tear trickle down Annabeth's cheek. I couldn't blame her, though-this was just a cruel, heartless murder.

As the hovercraft disappeared, the forest returned back to normal. The mockingjays started to sing again, and the animals came to life. Annabeth and I turned to Prim, who looked devastated. Annabeth wrapped up the girl in a hug and said calmly, "Prim, sweetie, it's okay. You're safe with us now, I swear. Why don't we all have something to eat and then we'll exchange stories, huh?"

-.-.-.-.

We had a pretty decent meal for a dinner in the Hunger Games. I took Marvel's pack, jacket, and supplies, dragging him into a cave far away from our campsite so he wouldn't be able to trace our steps. Prim, Annabeth and I gathered some of Rue's edible roots, nuts, and berries, while Annabeth managed to salvage some cheese and dried fruit from Marvel, too. I, being the manliest one (kidding), went fishing in a nearby river that Prim had shown me and caught a few struggling catfish before I even realized what I was doing.

_I'm sorry_, I thought to the fish mentally as I let it swim back into the river, _I wasn't thinking. Tell your river god that the son of Poseidon says 'hi'_. Yes, I speak catfish, too-it was just one of my many odd talents.

It didn't even reply as it stared at me blankly and swam away, and that's when I remembered that Greek legacy had been lost in this dimension. The catfish probably hadn't even heard of who Poseidon was, and it probably didn't belong to a river god, either.

I sighed and trudged back up to our small campsite, where Prim and Annabeth had already started up a fire and were cooking two groosling, a type of wild turkey. Annabeth had found them in the forest and taken them down, and Prim had confirmed that they were edible-she recognized the animal from another Hunger Games. I felt utterly useless. For some reason, the theme from the Biggest Loser show kept replaying in my head: _What have you done today to make you feel proooooud?_

My answer? Nothing.

_Well, Seaweed Brain, you saved your girlfriend from certain death_, the more rational voice in my head said (it kind of sounded like Annabeth's), _DUH_!

I sat down next to Prim as Annabeth divided up proportions from the turkey and berries and roots. We weren't exactly concerned about the fire's smoke-it was kind of like a signal to the Careers or any other opponents out there to come and get us. Annabeth and I were highly trained with combat, and Prim could tree-hop (I dubbed the name when I saw her swinging from tree to tree like a miniature twelve-year-old Tarzan) and escape if she needed to. Rue, apparently, had taught her the trick, and she had caught on amazingly fast. The three of us sat in silence and ate our meal hungrily, but by the time I had finished, I figured I could've done with seconds. If there was a pepperoni pizza bush out here in the Hunger Games, I would be all set.

When we all finished our dinner, Prim began to tell us about her story. As soon as the gong sounded to signal the start of the Hunger Games, she and Rue had teamed up immediately, running off into the woods together. They were two twelve-year-old girls with special talents, not much different. Once, when the Careers had been chasing them Rue had taught Prim how to hide in the trees, and she was a fast learner. They managed to evade the Careers by slowing tree-hopping and throwing a rock into the opposite direction the two her heading. The Careers heard the noise and went after it, leaving the two girls safe, for the moment, at least. When Prim had noticed the long cut on Rue's arm, she had bandaged it up nicely with the first aid kit she had salvaged from the Cornucopia before she fled. The two had analyzed the Career's food stash and tried to figure out a way to destroy it, so they would lose their major food source. The pile was right out in the open, guarded with only that skimpy boy from District 3, and that struck me as suspicious. The Careers weren't completely dumb, and they should've had at least the common sense to heavily guard their stash. This was suspicious, alright.

After they had failed to find a way to destroy the food source, Prim and Rue decided to distance themselves from the Careers and set up a small camp. Rue taught Prim a high, whistling tune that the mockingjays echoed before they split up to gather edible plants for a meal. Prim had been searching for another bush full of berries when she noticed that Rue's whistling signal hadn't reached her. The forest had gone silent. Prim whistles back urgently, but the only reply she got was Rue's scream. She had gotten trapped in Marvel's net, and the Career boy was coming in any minute. The rest, we already knew.

The three of us were silent for a minute, mourning Rue. Annabeth scooted over to my side and laid her head on my shoulder, sighing, and I knew how she felt. This was all completely _wrong_. We needed to avenge Rue's death, and I got a semi-brilliant idea how.

"Guys? Tomorrow's game plan: we take out the Career's main food source for good," I said, finally figuring out how they had kept their loot so heavily guarded with so few people.

"How?" Prim asked, wide-eyed, "There must me some sort of trick or trap to it."

"There is. Remember those mines that we have on our plates when we rise into the arena? That District 3 boy, he must have somehow found out a way to activate them again, if that's possible," I explained, "His District deals with electronics if I remember correctly. So..."

"The whole pile is mined around it, alright," Annabeth finished for me, excited. "Percy, you're a genius! Even I wouldn't have figured that out!"

My jaw dropped and probably fell into the fire. "Say that again?" I asked, totally caught off guard.

My girlfriend rolled her eyes and punched me in the arm. "You heard me, Seaweed Brain. Once is enough-or have you gotten kelp stuck in your ears again? But it's a start," she added, and I could almost see the gears in her head turning, "The problem is, though-how are we going to destroy the loot without blowing up ourselves?"

I grinned. "We destroy the loot by somehow triggering the mines from a distance and blowing it up sky high, hoping that we don't follow in its lead, too."

-.-.-.-.-

I was back in my all time favorite comfort zone: that was, blowing stuff up, as usual. Annabeth, Prim and I had talked things over late into the night formed an excellent plan. Annabeth would go with Prim to distract the Careers and light a fire in one spot in the forest. When the Careers would come running after that fire, the two girls would light another one farther on a little, luring the Careers away from their campsite and buying me the precious time I needed to carry out my part of the plan. I was going to sneak up on the pile of loot and try to trigger the mines from a distance, possibly throwing a rock or some kind if heavy object. Simple.

The only problem? I might blow myself up in the process, too, which would surely be lots of fun.

Morning came and the cold lessened, thankfully, and now it was time to set our plan in action. Annabeth and Prim quickly built the three fires in their places, and traveled with me back to the Career's campsite. The two girls stopped at the first fire, and I told them to give me some time to get to the base before they lit it. Prim had wanted to station herself at the second fire to save time, but I had firmly told her to stick with Annabeth-I didn't want any more Rue accidents. Besides, we would be exchanging mockingjay whistles as signals so that the three of us could keep track of one another. If everything went right, of us would be meeting each other back at our original campsite.

Annabeth nodded and gave me a peck on the cheek for good luck, while I got a sisterly hug from Prim. They told me to be careful and not to do anything reckless or stupid or dangerous (for good reason, too-all three of those traits were trademarks of Percy Jackson the Great), and I went on my way. I shivered in the morning cold since I was only wearing one jacket, but then I remembered receiving a nice pair of wool, fingerless gloves from a sponsor earlier yesterday. I hadn't wanted to show the gift to Annabeth or Prim because I didn't want to make them feel bad by showing off the thick, warm gloves. I pulled them on over my frozen fingers and instantly felt a lot better. Somehow, the gloves generated even more heat than even I expected, and when I took them off to take a good look at them, I found that they had heating pads lining the inside of the gloves. Maybe fangirls did come in handy, I thought as I pulled the gloves back on.

I crept through the forest silently as I neared the Career's campsite. I scaled a tree and saw that their pile was off to the side, seemingly guarded only by the skinny District 3 boy who had a smug look on his face. There were two large tents off to the side, where the Careers probably had the luxury to sleep in while the rest of us froze in the cold. I hid behind a clump of bushes and wait for my friend's signal, keeping a close eye on the Careers, who were sitting in a circle talking and sharpening their weapons. My partner from Four, Fresca, was out by the lake spearing some fish for a morning meal, and it made my stomach growl. I had only a few crackers and a small bag of dried fruit to get me through the day, but maybe I could somehow manage to steal something from the pile before I blew it up.

Then, I heard it: our four-note mockingjay signal, the birds in the forest repeating the tune eagerly as I whistled the same signal back. Our plan was ready to go-Annabeth, Prim, and I were all set.

I could tell that the two girls had lit the first fire when smoke began rising in the distance. I watched Glimmer as she stopped sharpening one of her few knives left that Annabeth hadn't taken, pointing to the trail of smoke. She said something to the other Careers gathered around in the circle, and Cato called Fresca over as they all shouldered their weapons. Then, the four Careers-Cato, Fresca, Marvel, and Glimmer set off into the woods to find their next victim, leaving the boy from District Three alone. Cato ordered the boy to leave his post and guard the tents instead, since the pile of food and loot was already heavily mined. The boy obeyed, strolling over to the gap between the two tents and sitting out in front. Thankfully, he wasn't facing my direction, but I still would have to be as discreet as possible.

I hurriedly shimmied down the tree and sprinted towards the opposite side of the pile, being blocked from view just for good measure. I kept my distance paced around the mountain of loot, wondering how I could detonate the mines. I contemplated throwing a rock, but I wasn't sure if I would set off a chain reaction or not, and I didn't exactly have all day.

My eyes scanned the loot thoughtfully-lots of crates stacked high, a few spare packs here and there, a semi-ripped mesh bag full of apples slumped over the top of a barrel... jackpot.

My thoughts began to race faster and faster at a hundred miles and hour. If I could somehow pull this off... with what, though? From a fifty-foot distance, I doubted that I could throw my knife that far or accurately enough. I had to open the rip in the bag so that the apples could fall to the ground and set off the mines, but I didn't have anything to work with. Frustrated, I stamped at the ground, blowing the hair out of my face. In the forest, I could see that Annabeth and Prim had lit the second fire, and I knew that I didn't have much time. The Career would anticipate the trick sooner or later.

I was hopeless. I had gotten this far, but I didn't have the proper weapon to carry out my part of the plan. I had a sword and a couple of knives, but I needed a ranged weapon, one that I could shoot. No, what I needed was a bow and arrow, which-curse my luck-happened to be the weapon that I was the worst at handling...

It was almost comical how fast the parachute came, floating down right into my arms. I watched, slack jawed as I stared at the simple wooden bow and the single arrow I was now holding in my hands. I was so startled that I nearly dropped it, but I quickly recovered from my initial shock and straightened up. This had to be an extremely expensive gift from many sponsors combined-the only problem I had with it was that it had just one single arrow.

Perseus Jackson cannot shoot a bull's eye using only _one arrow_. I wasn't an Apollo kid, and I never would be. Seriously? I needed at _least _two full quivers just to hit the target in general back at camp-never mind hitting the dead center of the ring. It wasn't that my accuracy was off or anything; it was just that I didn't feel comfortable using a bow and arrow...it didn't feel _natural_. I didn't have any better options, though, and time was slowly ticking away from me.

Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my fingers together to keep them warm and strung the bow nervously, trying to keep my hands steady. I pulled the bowstring back so that my thumb was touching the brink of my nose and nocked the arrow tightly, concentrating hard. Then, I aimed the tip of the arrow straight at the tiny rip in the sack of apples, lining it up in my perspective so that I actually thought that I had a chance of hitting the target. _Come on, Seaweed Brain_, I thought to myself, _You can do this_.

I didn't even give myself time to think, to voice any doubts I had of myself, or to try praying silently at Apollo/Artemis to help my arrow fly straight (no gods, remember?). In a split second, I released my fingers from the string, letting the arrow fly, hoping for the best.

I held my breath as the arrow somehow managed to find its mark, skewering the mesh bag of apples and opening the rip in the sack barely wide enough for a few apples to roll through. I gasped. How on earth did I-

And then the apples fell to the ground, detonated the mines, and the world exploded into a million tiny pieces.

I was blown backwards and flew through the air as the mine sent a chain reaction through the other ones, triggering them, too. I roughly hit the packed dirt, hard, but my backpack had taken the brunt of the impact. I had landed on my left hand, though, and I cringed as I heard the bone of my forearm crack and winced in pain, biting my lip from crying out. Different explosions were set off randomly, and the loud detonating noises were still heard. When things finally quieted down, I saw that the blast had sent me sprawling about a good thirty feet away from the wreckage, and I finally raised my throbbing head to take a look at my work.

I had turned the Career's glorious pile of loot into nothing but rubble. Holy Apollo, it had been a success.

Suddenly, I heard a boy's shouts and running footsteps toward the now blackened pile of rubbage. I quickly, shakily got up on my feet and scrambled into a nearby shrub, my head pounding painfully. I was afraid that I had suffered a concussion, but that was a problem to deal with later.

The District Three boy cautiously approached the wreckage, worried about some stray mine that hasn't detonated yet, I guessed. He was calling frantically to the other Careers, but they most likely were too far away to hear him. The boy didn't search for the intruder, though, probably assuming that whoever set off the mines had been killed-after all, the cannon blast signaling my death could have easily been lost in the loud explosion of mines.

I grinned and stood up, slowly creeping away before the Careers came running back. All in a day's work.

That's when I noticed something strange: the mockingjays have stopped singing. The forest was completely silent, still.

And that's how I knew that Annabeth and Prim were in great danger.

Or were they already dead?


	15. We Meet the Demigod that Doesn't Exist

**A/N: Chapter 15 is here! Enjoy! Thank you for all of the support and reviews!**

**-Sarah the Dorktastic**

**PJO Quote of the Day: "I can't summon any more gas!" Leo warned. Then, he blushes. "Wow, that came out wrong." -The Lost Hero**

Peeta~ We Meet a Demigod that Doesn't Exist

If someone could slap me now, that would be great-I seriously needed to wake up from this totally awesome but-would-never-happen-in-real-life dream. Oh, wait, nevermind: Everything went black after the part where Katniss had "kissed" me, and the dream ended.

The next time I came to, it was the middle of the night. I was lying on a soft patch of grass tucked comfortably into my sleeping bag, my wound freshly bandaged and the pain lessened. A small fire blazing to my right, and Maggie was curled up beside it in her own sleeping bag, snoring softly. Her curly auburn hair was sprawled all around her face like a rat's nest, but somehow I found that cute. Katniss, on the other hand, was still awake, keeping watch over us as she tended to the fire. I guessed she and Maggie decided to not to put it out because of the freezing cold night, and we would need some warmth to counter it.

I scooted over to Katniss's side, carrying my sleeping bag. "Hey," I said, startling her. She had been staring at the flickering flames intently, lost in thought, but she quickly composed herself, saying, "Peeta, you're still weak from the wound. Go back to sleep."

"I'm fine," I insisted, "The wound is nearly healed as good as new. Why don't you get some rest? You look tired. I can keep watch for now."

Katniss didn't reply. She looked at me and then looked away again, back at the fire, tossing a few twigs into it. Sparks flew into the air in all directions. "Do you remember?" she asked quietly, almost inaudibly. "You act like you don't."

I frowned. "Remember? Remember what?"

Katniss just sighed and shook her head, poking at the small fire with a branch. "It's nothing. Forget it," she muttered under her breath and avoiding my gaze.

Then something hit me: the dream. Had it really been a dream after all? But, no, it was impossible! Katniss wouldn't have really... no. It was never going to happen.

It was the only shot I had, though, and I riskily decided to take it. "Wait," I said slowly, "Do you mean... are you talking about our kiss?"

The reaction I was expecting from Katniss: stunned over what I just said, then confused about what I really meant, then annoyed that I would suggest something as outrageous as a kiss. She would probably slap me a few times, too, and yell at me irritably to get back to sleep.

The reaction I got? Katniss simply gazed into the fire, not meeting my eye...and nodded. Okay, that was unexpected.

My jaw dropped. "Hold on," I spluttered, trying to contain my shock. "That really happened? We actually... it wasn't a _dream_? It was _real_?"

Katniss just rolled her eyes and said, "Now we're finally all aboard the intelligence train, huh? Nice of you to join us."

We were silent for a few moments, and everything was quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the sound of Maggie's soft snoring. I was still not over the fact that the girl I had loved for eleven years just returned my feelings. I wondered if I was dreaming even now, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was. Oh, well, it didn't matter anyways-I was taking that secret to the grave no matter what.

"Why did you kiss me?" I asked her in a whisper, breaking the silence tense silence. Katniss didn't reply for a couple of seconds. She ran her fingers through her chocolate brown hair and pursed her lips, nervously fingering the solid golden bow she held. "Honestly? I don't know," she said finally, "I just had this feeling..."

I smiled. "It's okay. We don't have I talk about it if you don't want to." I felt kind of bad for making her uncomfortable, but Katniss nodded again, looking relieved. "Yeah," she replied. "Later, maybe."

I quickly changed the topic for her sake, "So, where to next?"

Katniss slung her backpack onto her lap and opened it, taking out the map. She unfurled it, examining the directions closely. "Well, we have two shards now," she said, "The next silver marker seems to be in a state called Colorado. It looks pretty far, so we've got a lot of traveling-"

A twig snapped behind us. A bush rustled.

Katniss and I turned around lightning fast, eyes alert, adrenaline pumping hard. Katniss loaded her bow, pulling her arrow back in anticipation, and I drew my spear. "Get behind me," I ordered, but she just pushed me aside and stepped in _front _of me.

"Peeta, I'm not going to let you get hurt," she said firmly. "Understood?"

"No," I replied, trying to position myself so that I would be shielding Katniss, but she held me back and called out in the darkness, "Who's there?"

Suddenly, an arrow flew at rocket speed from the bushes, whizzing past my ear. I yelped in surprise, but I was even more horrified once I saw who it was aimed at. The arrow impaled itself with a sharp _TWANG_ right in front of Maggie's sleeping face.

Maggie woke up in an instant with a strangled shout. "_HOLY HERMES!_" she yelled, her sky blue eyes open wide as she scrambled backwards from the arrow. "Are you two _crazy_?! What are you guys trying to _do_? If you wanted to wake me up, you can just slap me or something next time!"

"That wasn't-" Katniss started to protest, but just then, a boy stepped out from the shadows. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, around my age, probably. He was wearing a dark purple t-shirt and a black hoodie, which clashed intensely with tousled flaming red hair. He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, too, like he was used to traveling around alot. The boy was wearing black rimmed glasses and his mouth was set in a permanent scowl, just like some other girl that I knew. His emerald green eyes were full of suspicion, and he was holding in his hands a black wooden bow, which he had already knocked another arrow on and was pointing straight at Maggie.

"Who are you?" I asked menacingly, readying myself into a fighting position. "What do you want?"

The mysterious boy fixed his brilliant green eyes on me. "My name is Tim Daley, and I am a former demigod of Rome. I am here to assist you on your quest to take down the giant Hippolytus."

"Who sent you?" Katniss demanded impatiently, still not lowering her own bow, which she had aimed at the boy's heart.

Tim's face remained unreadable. "My mother, a goddess, sent me here to help you by communicating with me in a dream. She's told me everthing-I am destined to be the third member of your quest."

"Can't you count?" I growled. "The quest membership is already complete, thanks. The girl you just tried to kill makes three of us."

"If I had really tried to kill her, she'd be dead by now," Tim said, regarding me coldly. I swear, he could've frozen over Apollo's flaming sun chariot with that gaze. "And, besides, Maggie Kay is not the third member of your quest. Does the first line in your prophecy say 'Mortal, TRAITOR, and enemy shall travel west'? No, it doesn't."

My blood felt like it had been turned to ice. "Traitor?" I asked, "What do you mean? What traitor?"

The demigod laughed humorlessly. "The traitor, if you haven't noticed already, is Maggie Kay. She is working behind your backs, allying herself with Hippolytus. So, I'm sorry, but I must destroy her."

I was so stunned that I probably wouldn't have reacted, but it was a good thing that Katniss did. As Tim was about to release his arrow at Maggie who had drawn her sword, Katniss snarled, "If you even TRY to shoot at her, I'll put an arrow through your heart without even batting an eyelash. I don't care who sent you here, but if you want to kill my friend, you're going to have to go through me, first."

"And me, too," I added. "Don't think you can fool us with your lies. _No one_ is going to hurt-"

Out of nowhere, Maggie appeared at my side, pushing me and Katniss away before things got ugly. "Guys, wait! He's... he's not lying," she cried. "I'm sorry. I-look, we can trust this guy. Hermes told me in a dream that he was coming. I'll explain everything, I promise."

Maggie turned to Tim, who was standing with his bow lowered slightly. "Who are you, really?" she asked, "Who's your godly parent?"

Tim surveyed Maggie critically, giving her an up-and-down look. "I am the son of Bellona, half brother of Reyna and Hylla. To be honest, I'm not even supposed to be alive."

-.-.-.-.-.-.

Annabeth~

Everything was going great until Cato and his wimpy Career gang had to crash our party.

Just as we lit the third fire was about to run away, the Careers stumbled into the underbrush, sneering and drawing their weapons. If I had only my safety to worry about, I would have laughed maniacally and taken all four of them head on, but I had to protect Prim, too. I ordered her to get behind me and drew my long hunting knives, afraid that I would have to use them to kill.

Then, something weird happened. Cato took one look at me and something odd crossed his eyes-was it... fear? It disappeared in a second though, leaving me sure that I had imagined the whole thing. He turned to the rest of the Careers, who were glaring at me expectantly like they were sizing Prim and I up. I could almost hear them thinking:_First one who gets the little girl in the heart earns twenty points! First one who beheads the older girl gets fifty!_ The whole thing was so repulsive that I quickly pushed it out of my mind and readied myself for a fight.

All of a sudden, a loud, ear-splitting explosion came from the direction of the Career base. I had to refrain myself from jumping up and down and pumping my fist in the air in triumph as I saw the horrified looks on the Career's faces. I could tell that even Prim was trying not to give a tiny, "Yes!" from behind me and grin victoriously. Seaweed Brain had come through for us.

"_Cato_!" Glimmer shrieked, "Someone must have set off the mines! They could've destroyed all of our loot!"

Cato looked at his gang, then back at me, and then back at the rest of the Careers again. "GO!" he commanded in a barking tone, waving his hand, "Find out who did it and BRING HIM TO ME! I'll take care of these puny tributes, don't worry."

The three other Careers-Marvel, Glimmer, and Fresca-quickly obeyed and ran off into the forest to get back to their campsite. I hoped that Percy had found a safe hiding spot so that the Careers wouldn't capture him. Who knows what had happened to Seaweed Brain when he tried to detonate the mines? He could be-no. I wasn't going to allow myself to think that way, ever.

Cato then turned to Prim and I, scowling. I brandished my knife threateningly, daring him to get any closer. Now that it was one on one, I had a much better chance of getting away with Prim alive, and I wasn't going to waste it. The blond boy studied me for what felt like eternity, then raised his sword, pointing the tip at me. Anticipating an attack, I glared at him a bit more until Cato said the one thing I wasn't expecting him say to me, "Just this once, Chase. Don't cross paths with me again, or I'll rip your throat out, no matter how stupidly, insanely beautiful you look. All right?"

And as I gaped at him, he turned around on his heel and took off after his allies, disappearing as he crashed through the forest. Just like that, Cato Leerman was gone, and Prim and I were alone.

Prim was as shocked as I was. "Did that boy, Cato, just _let us go_? Why didn't he try to kill us?"

I simply shook my head, even though I knew full on what his reason was for letting Prim and I escape. "I don't know, Prim. Come on, let's-"

"He called you beautiful," Prim said abruptly, like she was just realizing something. "He thinks that you're beautiful."

I shrugged, trying to keep nonchalant. "Yeah, but-"

"ANNABETH!" a voice full of pain cried in the distance, cutting through the temporary calm of the forest, "_ANNABETH_!"

I felt like someone had ripped my heart out with those words. Without a second of thought, I sprinted through the woods, trying to follow the sound of Percy's voice. No, no, no, no! What had Seaweed Brain gotten himself into this time? Oh gods, please don't let him be...

I trampled through the underbrush and leaped over knobby tree roots, screaming at the top of my lungs, "_Percy! Percy, where are you?!_" I didn't care if I was being lead into an ambush-I just wanted to get to Percy, to stop him from being in so much pain. Behind me, Prim was running full out, huffing and panting to try and keep up with me. "Annabeth!" she pleaded. "Don't! The Careers will kill you!"

"_ANNABETH! HELP!_" Percy's voice screamed again, and all of my senses went on overdrive. Oh my gods, what were they doing to him? My heart shattered as I ran through the forest trying to find Seaweed Brain-where in Hades was he?

"_PERCY_!" I shouted. "_I'M COMING! PLEASE, HOLD ON..._"

I stopped at the foot of a large oak tree, completely sure that I was in the right place. His voice had led me here, but where was Percy? I circled around the base of the tree, desperately trying to find him, when the voice came again. "ANNABETH! ANNABETH! ANNABETH!" Percy's voice came from up high, in tree itself, probably. I had to get to him, I had to save him, I had to stop him from the pain.

"_PERCY_!" I shrieked, already starting to scale the tree, "_SEAWEED BRAIN, WHAT-_"

And then Percy or the voice or whichever is screaming, screaming, screaming, horrible, heart-wrenching screaming. It was so full of pain and suffering that I immediately broke down into sobs, almost losing my grip on one of the branches. Rational thinking flew out the window as I continued to climb the tree, tears streaming down my face in despair.

Far down below me, I think Prim was yelling, "Annabeth, _stop_! It's not him!" I didn't listen, though, I had to get to Percy, I had to help him-

The screaming stopped suddenly, like it had been cut off. I felt like I could breath again. The blood was roaring in my ears but my heart was beating at a million miles a minute, the adrenaline in my system still pumping. Prim was standing at the base of the trunk, and there was a dead bird of some sorts at her feet. Her slingshot was in her hands, which were trembling, but she called up to me and told me to come down. There was something I needed to see.

My sanity returned as I quickly scurried down the tree, the panicked part of my mind still thinking, GET TO PERCY FIRST! YOU HAVE TO SAVE HIM! But I managed to resist it for a few moments and looked down at the bird, slowly comprehending. Prim looked at me pitifully and she whispered softly, "Annabeth, that wasn't really Percy. It was this jabberjay bird, which mimics sounds. It's a mutt, Annabeth."

I was shaking like a leaf as I impaled one of my knives into the disgusting thing's neck for good measure kicking it roughly into the tree. No amount of hunger would ever tempt me to eat it. "Come on," I said to Prim hoarsely, "We better get going-"

"Wait!" Prim interrupted quietly, putting a finger to her lips for silence, "Listen! Can't you hear something?"

I strained my ear and listened closely, but I didn't hear anything. "What is it, Prim?" I whispered, "Is it another jabberjay?"

"Shh! There it is again!" Prim hissed, "A boy's voice. He's yelling at someone."

I listened again, and this time I could faintly make out the words as I cautiously approached the voice. "_WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? WHO WERE YOU WORKING WITH?_"

Cato.

A different voice replied calmly, "No one. Now, if you're going to kill me, we can stop wasting time and just get it over with, yeah?"

My heart stuck in my throat. No!

I could see Prim's eyes widen in understanding, too, and I before I bolted, I grabbed her by the shoulders. "Prim," I said sternly, "Do _not _follow me. Climb a tree or hide somewhere-whatever you have to do to be safe. No, actually, run back to our campsite and hide there. Please. I'll meet you there, I promise."  
Prim hesitated for a second, then nodded and took off for our site. Then, I ran.

As I barreled through the forest, I could hear Marvel's voice saying, "Come on, you know he's lying Cato. I saw him with those two other girls, the ones you killed. But, I guess, it doesn't matter anyways-you'll all be dead now."

Percy, hold on, I'm coming...

"Killed? Who did you kill?" Percy asked, and I could tell that he was trying to keep his voice from shaking. Panting heavily, I finally reached the edge clearing, where I could see that the four Careers had surrounded Percy. I tried to sob as I saw how best up he looked-black eye, split lip, bloody nose, broken left arm, and a terrible cut on his leg that was bleeding profusely. I silently hid behind a large tree and figured out a game plan. I couldn't exactly charge right in the middle of the pack and start knocking people out without having to worry about one of the Careers using a wounded Percy as leverage. No, what I needed was a distraction.

A plan formed in my mind as I heard Cato say maliciously, "I killed your pathetic golden girlfriend and her little puny sidekick with the slingshot. They're both dead."

And that's when I think Percy saw me, crouched behind a shrub. He suddenly grinned and said, "So, why haven't I heard two canon blasts yet?"

Now was my chance. Percy had caught the Careers off guard, and I knew that they would be suspicious that Prim and I were still alive. I decided to use that as my advantage. I chucked a rock the size of my fist into a nearby bush to my right, making it rustle. The four Careers turned to the source of the sound, alert now. "What was that?" Glimmer asked, her blue eyes wide with anticipation.

Smirking, I threw _another _large rock into a bush to my _left_, also making that one rustle. It was quite hilarious how all the Careers whipped their head in the direction of the new sound. Only Cato had no fear written across his face as he raised his sword, calling out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Laughing silently, I rustled my own bush, ducking behind a tree as Cato turned and lobbed his sword at the shrub. As he marched over to retrieve it, I then threw two more rocks at my adjacent bushes, making them rustle at the same time. One of the girls yelped and said the one thing I was hoping she would say: "Cato! We're surrounded!"

For good measure, I hurled another rock into a tree opposite of mine, making the leaves and branches tremble. Grinning, I quietly cleared my throat and gave my best non-human growling sound, like I was some kind of mutt. Now, even Cato seemed a bit scared, and, fast, I made my way to another brush, growling low in my throat again. The Careers jumped in shock, but Fresca just clutched her spear bravely and said, "Guys, don't worry. Let me go check it out, this could be some kind of jabberjay designed to scare us." The rest of the Careers watched her as she approached my bush, holding their breaths and totally forgetting about Percy. I hid behind a tree as Fresca stomped into the shrubs, frowning. She looked around and rolled her eyes, breathing out a sigh of relief. "See guys? There's nothing-"

I pounced on her just then, knocking her to the ground so we would be out of sight. I clamped my hand over my mouth as she tried to scream, muffling it. As she tried to struggle against me, I hit Fresca over with the flat of my knife, knocking her out. I growled feriously, like the girl had just been attacked my a ruthless mutt. She became still, and as I dragged her away, I muttered, "Sorry."

"Fresca!" the other three Careers cried, reluctantly rushing to her aid as fear held them back. I locked eyes with Percy for just a split second, and I knew he had gotten my message: RUN.

As Percy hobbled away, I tried to keep the Career's attention focused all on me. I growled, backing up a little to lead them away from the clearing, jumping into various bushes an throwing rocks into others, giving them the impression that there was more than one of the beasts. The Careers kept advancing, and I kept retreating, luring them away from Percy. Finally, when I decided they were far enough from Seaweed Brain as I could get, I grabbed an enormous sized rock and chucked it with all my strength at Cato. Before the muscular blond boy could react, the rock hit him hard in the head, bringing him down with a groan, completely unconscious. A bruise was already forming on his forehead, and his two other companions, Marvel and Glimmer, cried out in surprise.

"What the-" Glimmer started to say, until jumped out of the bush and tackled Marvel to the ground, making her scream. I hit the boy over the head again with the hilt of my knife, kicking out at Glimmer, who had tried to charge at me. I sent Glimmer flying backwards, while I slammed my fist down into Marvel's face, breaking his nose as blood gushed outwards. "That was for Seaweed Brain and Rue," I snarled as Marvel blacked out. Glimmer, who was still recovering from my blow. I fought her easily and threw another rock at her pretty face. She shrieked in exasperation and I tackled her, too, knocking her to the ground. Glimmer became unconscious in an instant, and I stood up, breathing heavily. That went well.

I brushed the dirt off of my pants and ran off back towards the clearing, trying to find Percy. I reached the original spot where the Careers had surrounded him, but Percy was nowhere to be found. Which was fine-it meant that he had been able to escape safely. I stepped over Fresca, who was still knocked out, and ventured off in the opposite direction, calling, "Seaweed Brain! You're safe now! Where are you?"

"Annabeth?" Percy's voice was far off in the distance but full of relief. "Over here!"

"Percy, I'm coming!" I yelled, rushing through the forest. "Please, hold on..."

Branches and twigs scraped my arms, but I didn't care-I just needed to be with Percy again.

Finally, I arrived back at our small campsite, where Prim was taking care of Percy. She had bandaged up his leg wound and was tending to his cuts and bruises. Percy was a little beat up but alive, and I sobbed in relief as I threw myself into his arms.

"Seaweed Brain!" I practically shrieked, hiccuping and sobbing into his shoulder as he wrapped his strong arms around me. "I thought... you-there was a jabberjay..."

Percy pressed his lips to my forehead and comfortingly stroked my hair. "Shh, Annabeth, it's okay. Prim told me everything. Don't worry, we're together now."

I loved him for saying that. After all we've been through, it was the only thing that mattered-not "we're alive" or "we're safe", but "we're together".

"Seaweed Brain?" I asked, still crying.

"What is it, Wise Girl?" Percy replied, a hint of a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Don't ever leave me again."

"I won't. Not ever. I promise."  
• • •


	16. A Roman Makes me Confess (I Hate Him)

**A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, readers of all countries, I present to you... CHAPTER 16! Sorry it took a little longer for me to update, but I really hope that you enjoy it! Reviews are appreciated and loved forever and always haha. Thank you for all of your support, and keep on reading!**

**-Sarah the Dorktastic**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! All credits and/or rights go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!**

**PJO Quote of the Day: I couldn't figure out which one disgusted me more: the cyclops eating my best friend, Grover, or the cyclops marrying one of my worst enemies, Clarisse. -The Sea of Monsters**

Maggie~ A Roman Makes me Confess (And I Hate Him)

To be honest, it would be a nice change if people stopped trying to kill me for once. After I was rudely awakened by a black arrow impaling itself right in front of my face, I even had the bad luck to meet the guy who had shot it. As if things could get any worse, he had been the half-blood that my dad had warned me about in the dream I was having just before I woke up, the one that would change everything for me. Then, the Roman demigod-Tim, whatever-basically blabbed my biggest secret to the whole world (read: Katniss and Peeta), and had pretty much ruined my whole game plan.

I had to admit, though, he was probably doing me a favor-it was about time that I confessed and apologized to my two friends. I owed this to them, to everything we've been through... this was the right thing to do.

We gathered around the campfire, yawning sleepily, and Katniss, Peeta, and I told Tim the whole story. We started from the moment Katniss and Peeta had arrived in Camp Half Blood's forest up until now, when Tim had appeared. The Roman demigod wasn't exactly eager to share his story with us, though, only telling us that he had run away from Camp Jupiter a while ago for some reason. Then, a few nights before, his mother, Bellona, had appeared to Tim in a dream and had lead him here, telling him that he needed to fulfill his destiny. Tim looked pretty upset when he was telling us his story, so I didn't decide to press him for any further details, as tempting as it was.

Then, Tim glared at me from across the smoldering fire and asked, "What about you, Kay? What's your own story?"

I crossed my arms, now regretting too soon that I didn't interrogate the boy after all. But, I took one look at my friends' hopeful expressions written across their faces and I knew that I didn't really have a choice any more. So, I took a deep breath and started to tell my story.

"It began the night before Katniss and Peeta showed up at Camp Half-Blood. I was having nightmares, as usual, and, for some reason, that night they were all about Joss, my old best friend who had died on a quest. As one of the nightmare of Joss screaming at me to save her from a pack of monsters ended, I dreamed about something strange. There was this giant-who I would later find out was named Hippolytus-and he seemed to be directly talking to me. The giant told me that he had the power to bring back my best friend-my sister, almost-from the dead. He said that he power of Hades himself and that he would willingly release Joss from the Underworld if I did something for him in return. I was weak at that time and I fell for it, agreeing to his offer. I didn't have any other options, though-the Giant warned that if I didn't want to cooperate with him, he would not only refuse to revive Joss, but he would also capture and kill my two closest friends, too: Travis and Connor, my half-brothers, the sons of Hermes."

Katniss raised her eyebrows in surprise, Peeta look slack-jawed over the fact that I actually cared about my two mischievous brothers, and Tim had his usual trademark poker face. I continued, "Hippolytus then informed me that I was going to be asked to go on a quest the next day with two new demigod campers. I was to accompany those two half-bloods named Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark and assist them on their way. The giant ordered me to 'complete' their prophecy for now, even though I wasn't really destined to be the third member, the 'half-blood'. He told me that I was supposed to allow the two demigods to finish their quest, collecting all of the shards. Then I was going to divert them, sidetrack them, and lead Katniss and Peeta to him instead. They would deliver the sword right into his hands, dying after that, and then the giant would free Travis and Connor AND give me Joss back. It would've been a whole Hermes cabin reunion."

"But when I woke up the next day, Travis and Connor were still snoring away in their bunks, safe and alive. I was afraid that the Giant had been making an empty threat to get to work with him, but he radiated so much dangerous power that I didn't want to take anything for granted. I went along with my daily camp routine normally until you two showed up in the middle of one of my lovely pranks. When I barreled through the doors of the Big House to ask Chiron for help and I saw you two, Katniss and Peeta, talking to him, I knew that you were the ones Hippolytus had been telling me about. You were the ones that I needed to lead to your deaths."

Guilt stabbed at my heart like a rusty dagger, and my throat got dry for a few moments. I bit my lip and forced myself to keep telling the story, averting my gaze from Katniss and Peeta (and, yes-Tim, too).

"So I volunteered to join you two on the quest, and that was that. Once, when we were attacked by the Giant's _empousa _demons, I thought that Hippolytus had betrayed me and was planning to kill me instead. But, as it turned out, his minions just wanted to collect the shards from me and bring them to the giant one by one. That's why they dragged me off. I didn't trust them, though, I was still suspicious that the _empousa _would kill my questmates on the train, before we finished the quest. And for some reason, I didn't want Katniss or Peeta to die-I became too attached to them, and they had become my friends. So, I fought against the _empousa _and drove them off."

"Then, after the hydra attack-just now, actually-Dad visited me in a dream. He warned that everything was about to change for me, as my position was going to be officially compromised. Hermes told me about the real third member of the quest and how he would reveal my status. The whole time, Hermes, my dad, knew that I was a traitor. I asked him why he didn't give me away to Chiron or any one of my friends, and he told me that he... he had seen my fate. Dad said that I was destined to become a good hero after I had been revealed as a traitor, and that I wasn't like Lu-another one of his sons, who had turned evil for most of his life."

"Hermes showed me something else, too: Hippolytus had managed to kidnap my two half-brothers after all. He was holding them hostage somewhere, by a river, I think, from what I saw. Travis and Connor were in seriously bad shape, too,"-my voice broke as I tried to describe them-"They almost looked like they were dead-both were unconscious and had horrible cuts and bruises on their faces. My dad said that was helping me because he didn't want to lose any more of his children, not after the last one, and he wished me good luck. Then, the dream ended. That's it," I finished miserably, feeling worse than ever.

Katniss, Peeta, and Tim were dead silent. Guilt clawed at my heart as Peeta soothingly put an arm around my shoulder and said, "Gods, Maggie, I'm so sorry. None of this is your fault."

"You don't get it!" I cried, "I've probably already doomed both of my brothers by telling you this. The giant will know."

The fire cast dancing shadows over Tim's face as he replied thoughtfully, "I doubt it. Hippolytus hasn't gotten what he wants from you yet, so he's going to keep Travis and Connor for leverage over you. If I had a guess, it would be that they're still alive."

"He's right," Katniss added, nodding, "If he killed those two, the giant wouldn't have anything to use against you. You'd be unstoppable, and he wants to keep you in check."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, guys. This is all my fault," I said again, making Tim scowl.

"Self-pity is not an honorable trait, _graecus_. It's not going to get you anywhere," he retorted with an air of superiority, which made me scowl, too.

"You know what's not an honorable trait, _ROMAN_? Being as annoying as Hades! Who do you think you are?"

Tim rattled off his title like he had a lot of practice saying it, which he probably did, "I am Tim Daley, son of Bellona, former child of Rome, and former centurion of the Second Cohort in the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. I am the slayer of the mighty drakon, the cause of a great war that nearly started, and the curse of an unintended marriage. What about you, Kay?"

"Why, you little-" I was about to draw my sword in anger, but just as my hand reached for my sheath, Tim had already retrieved his bow from seemingly out if nowhere and loaded it. The arrow was aiming straight at my heart. How did he do that so fast? It wasn't like the guy had superhuman speed... right?

"Hey, let's all calm down for a minute here," Peeta said, quite alarmed as he struggled to hold me back. Katniss had done the same, restraining Tim from letting that arrow fly. Tim and I both glared daggers at each other, but I was surprised-that brief conversation without the two of us trying to strangle each other had lasted a lot longer than I had expected. "Can you guys just get along? We're on the same team!"

Katniss grimaced exasperatedly, but suddenly, her face lit up the way it did every time she got an idea. "I know," she said, "Peeta, why don't we let these two handle watch duty for the rest of the night? They can have some friendly BONDING time while we sleep."

Peeta caught on quickly, grinning in relief. "Uh, yeah, that would be great. Wow, I'm feeling tired already! I've, um, got to go to sleep now! Yup. Good night!" And with that, he and Katniss practically collapsed (sort of over dramatically) onto the ground and was snoring away in a few seconds (I couldn't tell if they were fake or not.)

Nice, guys. Now I had to stay up for the remaining hours of the night with an idiotic, obnoxious Roman demigod who would probably attempt to kill me a few times. What fun!

Tim and I sat in silence, back to back so that we could cover all directions. The fire crackled but didn't die out, and I grew bored (we all know about my ADHD issues). And alll of a sudden, I became curious.

"What did you mean when you said that you were 'the cause of a great war that nearly started'?" I asked Tim, breaking the almost tranquil calm that had settled between us. "And why are you a curse? What unintended marriage?"

I could imagine the demigod scowling again even though I couldn't see his face. It was a while before he replied, "It's a long story."

"We have lots of time."

Tim groaned. "Stubborn, aren't you?"

"I like to call myself overly persistent. But, yeah, that works, too," I mused.

"Well, I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is traditional," I said with a smile.

The next time Tim spoke, it was as if he was choosing his words carefully. "Before I had been born, my father was a highly decorated war hero and military strategist. He served in the U.S. Marines after he had graduated from West Point, which is a highly prestigious military school. He was in a top ranked leadership position, and, eventually, my father's strength, bravery and intelligence had caught the eye of a goddess-actually, two: Bellona, the Roman goddess of war and Athena, the _greek _goddess of war, wisdom, and battle strategy. The feud couldn't have been worse-Bellona had stolen Athena's role in mythology since the Romans had tamed Athena into a goddess of creative crafts, now called Minerva. However, this was a Roman and Greek goddess fighting over my father, and they decided to settle the dispute my letting HIM decide who he wanted to marry, which only seemed fair."

"They both presented themselves to my father one day, Athena and Bellona. The two goddesses offered him the same things-wisdom, glory, power-things like that. My father had a hard decision in front of him, even though he was honored that he had caught the attention of TWO major goddesses. And so, the following morning, he had to choose."

"Bellona?" I guessed.

"No. He chose Athena."

Okay, I did not see _that _coming. "But... but you're a son of Bellona!" I exclaimed, confused. "How-"

"Just let me finish my story, Kay. Anyways, it would be an understatement to say Bellona was enraged, seeing as it was her who had noticed my father first. So, Bellona went and consulted Trivia, the Roman goddess of magic-just like your Hecate-and Bellona asked her for help. Trivia agreed and concocted my mother a potion that would make her look like Athena to my father only. It lasted seventy-two hours-enough for my father and Bellona to get married and have, well, me. Trivia also distracted Athena with a spell, so the Greek goddess of wisdom hadn't known about the marriage at all. By that time, a few months later, it was too late, and I had been born."

"Bellona was a proud mother-she praised my father endlessly and put a blessing on me when I was a baby. Bellona said that I was destined to do great things, granting me genetically enhanced traits. I was made stronger, faster, and smarter. I had raptor vision and superhuman hearing, too."

"That explains a lot," I muttered. "But, your glasses..."

"I'm farsighted, Kay," Tim elaborated. "Not nearsighted. So, when I want to take look at things closely, I have to wear my glasses. They come in handy either way, though, so I just keep them on all of the time."

"Where was I? Oh, right, so Bellona had blessed me with superhuman abilities, but by that time Athena had figured out Bellona's scheme. Athena was furious, and she went to visit my father at his small apartment in Southern California. She walked up to my little cradle in the middle of the night and literally looked down on me in disgust, or from what I've heard. Then, Athena got revenge on Bellona, laying her hand on my forehead and cursing me for life. Because of Athena, no matter how many battles I won or how much leadership I held, I was to be an outsider, shunned. I would never be accepted to a large group of people or among my own brethren. I would never be recognized for my achievements when I joined Camp Jupiter later on in the future, and I would always be a lone outcast."  
"Ouch," I said, wincing sympathetically, "That's harsh."

Tim was silent for a while. Finally, he replied, "Harsh? No. It just balances out the great gift I've been given. Everything has to be fair."  
"So, I trained and trained at Camp Jupiter ever since I was eight. I rose to become a centurion for the Second Cohort and earned many medals of valor, but I had no friends. No one would come up and talk to me because of the stupid curse-people distanced themselves from me as much as possible. You'd like I'd had some kind of deadly, contagious disease. Not even my half-sister, Reyna, paid much attention to me; she was too busy running the legion as a praetor. She had only ever talked to me once, and that was to give me a gift from her sister, Hylla of the Amazons."

"I was respected but not accepted at Camp Jupiter. Life went on as its usual, melancholic self-I trained and fought in the Titan War and trained some more. I was absolutely miserable. On one particular bad day, I couldn't stand it any more-I ran away from camp. I didn't know where I was going to go (home wasn't exactly an option) but I just had to leave. I wandered around the country, fighting monsters and trying figure out what my destiny was. So, one night, my mother, Bellona, visited me in a dream and told me that if I wanted to seek my destiny, I should come here, to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. I was to befriend a group demigods for the first time, becoming the third member of their quest to replace the imposter. We were going to take down a giant and save the world, or so I've heard."

I grinned in the darkness. "You've got that right buddy. Hippolytus wants to destroy the world? Let us destroy him first." Tim's story made me upset, though. I felt bad for him, but I would never say it out loud because he probably wouldn't appreciate my sympathy. It was terrible to be born with a great powers...along with a curse. It was just so freaking _unfair_.

Silence settled over the two of us again. "You probably would hate me for saying this," I said to Tim softly, staring straight ahead, "But I'm sorry. And I mean it, I really do. Things must have been horrible for you."

Tim shot me a sideways glance. "Go to sleep," he ordered. "You're tired; I can tell."

"And what if I don't?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Then I'll probably have to knock you out by force, which will make you unconscious for a few days or so. Believe me, it won't be pretty."  
I blew out a huff of annoyed breath, defeated. Finally, our relationship of mutual dislike was back to normal. "You're not going to kill me in my sleep or anything?"

"Nah, I think we're past that killing-each-other phase for now. It's not worth it anymore-it would take too much of my time and energy."  
I punched him in the shoulder and snuggled down into my warm sleeping bag, shivering. I zipped it up, making myself comfortable with my pillow while muttering, "Jerk."

"Doofus."

"Double-digit IQ moron."

Tim whistled appreciatively. "Nice one. Now, shut up and go to sleep, please. Silence is golden, especially coming from you."  
Irritated, I grabbed my pillow from underneath my head and chucked it at the red-haired demigod, rocketing straight at his face. "Romans," I scowled. "Why are you so annoying?"

"Oh, come on, Kay, I highly doubt that anyone can ever compete with you in that category." Fast as lightning, Tim snatched my flying pillow from midair and threw it back at me, twice as hard. I was so stunned that not even my superior speed helped me then as the pillow hit me smack in the face, and I went down. My head hit the ground with a comical _thud_. Ugh. Of course, I totally wanted to make a complete idiot out of myself in front of the douche-y yet well-disciplined son of Bellona.

I could tell that Tim was stifling a laugh as I laid there, unmoving, the pillow covering my fuming face. My words were muffled by it as I grumbled, "Why, thank you, I'll take that as a compliment. Good night."

"Sleep tight and don't let the monsters bite," Tim replied with a hint of sarcastic amusement in his tone.

"That'll only happen if you do a lousy job keeping watch over us, genius," I shot back, flipping my pillow over and trying to go to sleep. Tim just looked over at me and smiled, saying, "Touché. Good night, Kay."

I was already snoring before he had even finished his sentence, and, for the first time in many long years, I slept without dreams. No giants threatening and bargaining with me, no half-dead half-brothers, no screaming, dying best friends. Did my peaceful rest of the night last long, though? You can bet that it didn't.

For the second time that day (or was it night?), I was woken up quite rudely. Someone was frantically shaking my shoulder, trying to get me awake while whispering in my ear, "_Graecus_, get up already. We've got some monsters to destroy."

"Tim...," I murmured sleepily, waving him off with a lazy hand. I was faintly aware of the wonderful scent of something delicious filling the air, but my brain was too muddled to figure out what it was. "What monsters? Too... tired..." I opened one eye and was startled to see that the Roman demigod was actually _grinning _for once. I raised my eyebrows and became totally stunned as I watched him grill tacos-yes, _tacos_-over the flickering fire, which he had probably gotten from who-knows-where. My jaw dropped even lower when Tim plucked a freshly grilled chicken soft-shell taco from one of the stakes and handed it to me on a white paper plate, looking like he wanted to laugh. "The hunger monsters, of course," Tim replied to my question, "The one that kept growling in your stomach the whole night, smart one. It helped me stay awake, though-every time I started to doze off it loudly woke up me up in an instant."

I didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed at the guy as I accepted the taco, finally realizing how hungry I had been. "You made this?" I asked, shocked as I sat up, pushing my disheveled hair out from my face. "But, how...where-"

Tim smiled and patted his worn out duffel bag, saying proudly, "My half-sister, Hylla, handed this down to me as a gift. The bag is enchanted by none other than Circe, a sorceress of magic, and it can store anything in it, no matter what the size. Let's just say that I stocked up on quite a few things before I left Camp Jupiter..."

Resisting the urge grab the guy by his shoulders and shout "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE REAL TIM?", I devoured the taco faster than Percy Jackson devouring a slice of pepperoni pizza, and that had to be saying something-that guy could eat like a Minotaur. "Oh my gods, Tim, this is amazing. There almost may be a chance that I hate you less, now," I practically gushed, which was completely unlike me (sometimes).

Tim grinned back at me and turned to my two sleeping friends, calling, "Katniss, Peeta-wake up you two! Breakfast is served, and it's all on me."

Well, maybe Tim Daley did have a good side after all.

• • •

Percy~

Mutts? Give me a horde of monsters any day.

It was our third day into the Hunger Games, and ten of us were already dead. Annabeth, Prim, and I had made pretty good progress, though, for a bunch of amateurs. We had destroyed the Career's food source, and, soon, they would go hungry. It was only a matter of time before they start to turn on one another, fighting each other out of frustration. That would save us the trouble of having to go and kill them ourselves-ugly, messy business, and I doubted that I had the heart to do it anyways.

I was on watch when the growling, snarling mutts came. No, they weren't the jabberjays, thank the gods, but these animals were just as bad. I hadn't gotten any sleep for the past twenty-four hours now, and my eyelids were starting to droop tiredly. The three of us had decided to sustain our fire to hold off the freezing cold of the night, even if it meant risking an unpleasant encounter with the Careers. Hopefully, most of them would sgill be recovering from Annabeth's awesome NFL-worthy tackles and WFC-worthy knockouts. She was a GENIUS, all right, by thinking up of a plan to lure the Careers away from me.

Annabeth's head was rested on my lap like a pillow, and she was sleeping like a rock. Sometimes, she would murmur my name and reach out into the open air with her hand desperately, as if she wasn't going to let me get away. I took her hand gently and squeezed in reassuringly, calming Annabeth down a bit. She stopped struggling and a happy smile spread across her face, falling into a deep sleep again. I smiled, too.  
That's when I heard the low growl. It came from within the darkness and it sounded very, very near. Immediately, Annabeth's gray eyes flew open and she sat up so quickly that we nearly knocked our foreheads together, yelling, "Monster!" She drew one of her knifes from her jacket and gripped it tightly, brandishing it against the unseen creature. All demigods have been trained for this: being able to wake up in an instant if a threat appears while we're sleeping. Sadly, this was one of those times.

Annabeth took one look at my alert face and said, "There was something growling in the woods, right? I was afraid I had been having another nightmare."

"Yeah, I heard something coming from over there," I replied, pointing to the clump of trees where the sound had originated from. "Let's wake up Prim."

The little girl blinked sleepily when we shook her shoulder to get her awake. "What is it, guys?" Prim asked groggily. "Tribute or mutt?"

Annabeth and I looked at each other grimly. "That was no tribute," I said, "Unless the Careers are playing your trick on us to get revenge—can I just say: _lame?_

"Doubt it," Annabeth said. "We better watch out—this could get ugly in a matter of seconds. Prim, get behind Percy and I; we'll protect you from anything that's coming our way. And here, take this knife just in case—,"

Suddenly, deadly growls sounded from all around the three of us like a murderous chorus of mutts in the woods. I readied my sword while trying to keep the fear from crawling into my heart. It seemed like there were so many of those creatures out there, but I knew that if I had Annabeth by my side, I'd be okay.

Annabeth shakily took my hand with her own free hand and looked into the dark forest surrounding us ominously. And then the first mutt jumped out at us.

It was a sleek, gray-furred creature that looked like a jaguar, except that it had the face of a Rottweiler and two front fangs that were as big as my arm. Its mouth was foaming poisonously and its red eyes glowed with absolute hate as it lunged itself straight at Annabeth.

"_Back!_" I yelled, instinctively slashing at the mutt with my sword as Annabeth sidestepped and impaled the thing in the neck. I was so used to monsters disintegrating until the mutt fell to the forest floor with an angered howl, bleeding. I turned away from the repulsive creature as Prim, wide-eyed and terrified, pointed a quivering finger out into the woods surrounding us and said, "Guys, there's more… and they all look hungry."

More than a dozen of the mutts appeared in the outer ring of the clearing and had us cornered, trapped in their circle as they started to advance, snarling viciously. I positioned myself in front of Annabeth protectively and swung my sword at the beasts, trying to drive them towards me. Snow had obviously sent these mutts after Annabeth because he was held to his oath, and I knew that their only target was my girlfriend and possibly Prim, too. I couldn't let either of them get hurt.

"No one touches them!" I shouted at the mutts, but they only hissed at me further. I found myself back to back with Annabeth and Prim, and there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We were outnumbered by at least fifteen mutts, which were all frothing at the mouth and yapping dangerously at the three of us. So, just a normal day in the life of Percy Jackson, as it turned out.  
Then, all of the mutts threw themselves at us and we found ourselves fighting for our lives.  
I don't know how the long the battle lasted-it could have been two minutes or it could've been two millennia. I was lost in a whirlwind of dodging, stabbing, rolling, hacking, slicing as I tried to keep Annabeth and Prim safe. I got a few horrible slashes from the mutts' sharp claws across my chest, but I gritted my teeth and kept on fighting. I tried not to separate from Annabeth as much as possible, but there were just so many of the mutts—it was like fighting a large pack of hellhounds. For each one I managed to kill, another one took its place, and Annabeth and I were growing tired. Prim did her best to help us a little, stabbing at the mutts' thighs or kicking out at another to keep it from leaping at me.

The three of us weren't enough, though. Just as I killed what seemed like my hundredth mutt (it probably was only my fourth or fifth), I spun around and saw that all of the beasts were gone. Annabeth stabbed at her last mutt, too, and everything was silent—the forest seemed to waiting for something. My girlfriend and I locked eyes, and I was beyond happy to see that she had only minor injuries: a broken nose and a several scratches, but otherwise, nothing much. I smiled weakly—and then collapsed onto the forest floor, clutching the bleeding wounds across my chest. The pain just registered, burning like fire or acid (and, Hades, I know how _that_ feels like).

Ow. Ow. Ow. Somewhere far in the distance, I think, Annabeth was screaming my name and Prim was hurrying over with her first aid kit. The pain was overwhelming, and I clenched my fists. Then, very, very faintly, I heard the faint rustling of a bush to my right. No. I couldn't—I had to…

I coughed and tried to tell Annabeth about the last mutt, but she just grew even more worried and shushed me up, telling me to take it easy. I shook my head and tried again, but that was when it flew out of the bushes, launched itself at Annabeth, and knocked her over. Annabeth's knife clattered out of her hand, and I struggled to get up, using the last of my strength that was left. I ignored the pain, raising my sword—but no, it was too late, too late, too late, and everything was happening too fast and the mutt was going to kill Annabeth—_no…_

All of a sudden, a sword flew from out of nowhere at rocket speed and impaled itself in the mutt's side, right through its heart. I gasped and looked down, uncomprehending, but my own sword was still in my hands. What on earth…

Someone stepped from the shadows then, and I was afraid that it would be one of the Careers. That wouldn't make an sense, though—

No. It was the big, burly boy from District Eleven who never talked much: Thresh, I think. He was glaring down at the mutt as Annabeth got up in shock as the boy said, "Just this once. For Rue. Now, I do not owe you anymore."

As Prim, Annabeth and I gaped at him, Thresh walked over to dead mutt and pulled his long sword out of its limp body, turned around, and walked away into the night.


	17. My Boyfriend Gets Abducted, Again

**A/N: Hey there, my lovely readers! How are you all doing? I'm so sorry for the one-week wait for this chapter, and I hate making excuses, so, I won't. But, please, forgive me? (: Anyways, I really appreciate all of the support I've been getting from all of you out there, and I just want to give one big thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this fanfic! It keeps me motivated! So, have a good weekend, enjoy the chapter, and R&R!**

**-Sarah the Dorktastic**

**PJO Quote of the Day: "The drakon's glare wasn't the turn-you-to-stone type of paralysis like Medusa's was-more like, oh-my-gods-that-big-monster-is-going-to-eat-me type of paralysis, which is just as bad." -The Last Olympian**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO or the Hunger Games! They belong to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins respectively.**

~My Boyfriend Gets Abducted, Again~

Annabeth~

After the mutt attack, I seriously wanted to find President Snow, strangle him, and throw him off the roof of a Justice Building. _No one_ was going to hurt my Seaweed Brain anymore.

Percy had already been beaten up by the Careers several hours ago, and he was barely recovering from those horrible wounds. Now, he was lying on the forest floor with half a dozen more cuts across his chest, bleeding his life out. I bit back a sob and looked at Prim, who was gaping at the direction Thresh had gone.

"Prim," I ordered, "Take care of Percy, please. Bandage up his wounds. I'm going to go after Thresh."

Prim gazed up at me, and I could see the fear that was present in her eyes. "Annabeth, don't chase him!" she cried pleadingly, "He can kill you!"

I shook my head at her, trying to be as reassuring as I could. "It's okay, Prim-I just want to talk. See you later…hopefully." I then bolted off into the woods, searching for the boy who had saved my life.

"Thresh!" I called at the darkness as I crashed through the forest, "Thresh! Where are you?" Tree branches scraped at my arms but I kept on running, trying to find the tribute from District Eleven. As it turned out, though, the boy found me instead. I was barreling along, shouting for Thresh, when I felt a large hand grab my shoulder and yank me backwards.

I yelped in momentary surprise, afraid that a Career had gotten to me, but I saw immediately that it was Thresh. His dark brown eyes glared into mine and when he spoke, his voice was deep and menacing.

"Chase," Thresh said darkly, "I told you I that I don't owe you anymore. Leave me alone."

"Thresh, look," I said, "I... I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there."

"Is that all, smart girl? I think we're done here."

"No, wait!" I exclaimed exasperatedly, grabbing the huge boy's muscular arm, "Would you like to join us? I mean, you're out all alone in that arena... isn't that terrible?"

Thresh studied me suspiciously through his coal black eyes. They darted back and forth between myself and the woods behind me, as if he was deciding whether he should run off again or come with me. I held my breath, wondering what Thresh was going to say next-or what he WASN'T going to say next.

Finally, Thresh exhaled loudly and murmured in a dark tone, "Fine, Annabeth. I will consider joining your alliance." He didn't smile or look any happier, but, all the same, he followed me back to the campsite.

"Thanks, Thresh," I replied, throwing him a backwards glance as I parted a clump of branches, "It really means a-"

"Smart girl, look ahead. Where are the others?"

I stopped, startled. "Huh?"

Thresh pointed a finger in front of me, into the clearing with our fire blazing warmly. "The green-eyed boy and the blue-eyed girl. Where are they?"

I whipped my head around frantically, my heart stopping in fear. What was Thresh talking about... he couldn't be-  
And then I saw that the clearing was empty-no Percy, no Prim in sight. The only things that were left was Percy's sword and Prim's first-aid kit. Oh my gods. No, no, NO...

I hadn't heard a canon blast yet. That meant that the Careers or something else had kidnapped my boyfriend and the little girl I was trying so hard to protect. All of my senses went on overdrive as I frantically searched the clearing for any clue, any sign of what had happened to the two tributes, screaming out both of their names. No, _please_, this couldn't be happening again...

Thresh laid a hand on my shoulder again, doing his best to calm me down. I don't think the fact that I was hyperventilating hopelessly was helping much, either. "Annabeth," he said roughly, "Look, over here. The grass has been trampled, and it there's a path in this direction."

The big guy was right. The sun was starting to come up and dawn was breaking, and I as it did I saw a broken path to my right. The Careers or whoever had abducted my boyfriend had probably gone in that direction-I had no choice but to follow it, even though it did seem suspicious. The trampled path was too... _obvious_. I had expected the kidnappers to be more cautious, more careful with getting away.

Was it a trap? Maybe.

Probably.

Did I care? No.

"Come on, smart girl," Thresh ordered sternly, grabbing my arm and directing towards the path. "We better get going if we want to catch up with whoever abducted your friends."

I nodded my heads, clearing my thoughts. "Right," I said, "Let's go."

As the sun came up, Thresh and I headed down the trampled, overgrown path, sprinting head-first into a trap-and, heck, we knew it, too. I tried to devise a plan to fight whatever the two of us were going to be faced with: avenging Careers, more mutts, or a new Capitol toy. I didn't like the options for any of our adversaries, though, and I bet Thresh didn't either. I was just glad to have him at my side, for now, at least.

We raced down the path and I could have sworn on the River Styx that I heard someone's heavy footsteps in front of us, but that could've been my imagination. After Thresh and I followed the path a little bit further, I saw a wide ring of trees right ahead if the two of us. I looked over my shoulder at my current ally and ducked behind a shrub near the circle. Thresh crouched next to me as we peered into the clearing, being as quiet as possible in case there was anyone around.

And this is what we saw: Percy and Prim, both tied together with rope, gagged, and unconscious. Glimmer and Marvel were perched, hidden in the trees right above them, alert and weapons ready. Wait, where was—

Oh, S_tyx_.

The second that realization hit me, I felt a WHOOSH of air behind my back and immediately, instinctively ducked as a spear flew by above our heads and impaled itself in a tree a few feet away from Thresh and I, quivering dangerously. If I hadn't gone flat down onto my stomach, I would have been a demigod kebab by now. With both of us thankfully alive, we whirled around and found ourselves face to ugly face with none other than Cato Leerman.

Too bad he had enough decency to hold on to his second spear, which was pointed straight at my heart. Cato was about fifteen feet from Thresh and I, but I knew that if he threw the spear at one of us, he would be left unarmed against the other. But, then, there was Glimmer and Marvel and possibly Fresca to deal with, too, excluding the fact that we had to rescue two unconscious ally tributes and get them out of here alive.

This was _so _not a good situation to be in.

Thresh and I stood back to back, weapons drawn as I faced Cato and he faced the two siblings from District One who were trying to approach us. I knew that Thresh was strong enough to take on both Glimmer and Marvel, but add the girl tribute from District Four and we'd be in trouble. The two of us were already surrounded as the three Careers circled around, trying to find an opening while Thresh and I also rotated slowly.

All five of us were caught in a stalemate; though, I doubted that our stance would last much longer. The whole forest was silent—I could've bet that the whole _world_ was hushed, waiting, too, to see what was going to happen next.

Then, Glimmer and Marvel charged at me, and, from there, everything went downhill.

"Come on!" I complained, dodging a sword swing from Marvel as Thresh took on Cato. "It's only been seventy-two hours and you guys have already tried to kill me twice!"

"Three times," Glimmer corrected, sneering as she slashed at me with a spare knife. "And we probably would have tried to kill you before the Games even started if we thought we could get away with—,"

Her sentence was cut off as I ran headfirst at her, vaulted upwards using Cato's spear, which was still stuck into the tree, and kicked her in the head with a crushing blow as I dropped. Glimmer stumbled back blindly and I delivered another kick to her stomach, making her crumble to the ground, winded. Man, I was getting tired of giving people concussions these days.

Just as I turned, though, I felt the cold blade of a sword press against my throat and a muscular arm wrap around the base of my neck. I kicked out at my captor, struggling, but he simply held me tight against him and disarmed my knife arm, letting it clatter to the ground as Marvel laughed. He dug his sword deeper into my throat, opening up a long, bloody cut. I bit my lip from crying out as the District One boy leaned in close to my cheek, my blond curls tickling his face.

"Look, Annie," he whispered into my ear, "My friend Fresca is going to kill your handsome boyfriend and that pretty little twelve year-old-girl that you foolishly allied yourself with. Here, I want you to see this."

Marvel forcefully turned me around to face the clearing where the District Four girl had finally shown up. She was looking down, shocked, at a pile of slackened ropes and two gags, which had fallen to the ground as their owners had inexplicably escaped from the bindings.

Percy and Prim were nowhere to be seen for the second time in less than sixty minutes.

"_Fresca!_" Marvel shouted angrily, and I hoped that he would panic enough to loosen his iron grip on me. "_WHERE DID JACKSON AND EVERDEEN GO?"_

"I don't know!" Fresca yelled back desperately, her eyes wide, "You told me that they would be unconscious when you kidnapped them! But, by the time I arrived, this is what I saw!"

Nice job, Seaweed Brain, I thought appreciately, my heart swelling with pride. It's a good thing you faked being knocked out, or we'd all have been in a tight spot.

"You, _lousy bastard!_" Cato screamed from behind me as he fought Thresh in a deadly combat battle. "_Find them, now! They can't have gone far!"_

"I don't think so," I muttered under my breath. Then, I sharply elbowed Marvel in the ribs, hard enough for him to lose his breath for a second and allow me an opening to get away. He gasped and inhaled quickly, giving me the chance to slip out from under his grip and deliver a roundhouse kick to his neck. Marvel's eyes bulged as he fell, face forward, onto the ground, his sword falling out of his hands. Success.

_BOOM._

My heart stopped. Oh my gods, _no. _Did I really _kill _Marvel? That was impossible—I wouldn't have, couldn't have…

The boy was still breathing! He had a nasty bruise on forming on his forehead and neck, courtesy of the one and only Annabeth Chase, but, otherwise, the tribute was fine! So, then, what had the cannon blast—

And when the realization dawned on me, it was too late. I turned around slowly, fearfully as I watched Cato remove his blood-stained spear from Thresh's chest, smiling sadistically.

Thresh couldn't be—

Dead. He was dead. And Cato had killed him.

My fault. All my fault.

If had just—

As Cato saw me, sneered devilishly, and threw the spear at my heart, I didn't even react. I was too numb with grief, too stunned about what was happening to realize that I, too, was going to die.

I, Annabeth Chase, was going to die.

It was all over.

The Capitol had won.

I blacked out before the spear even reached my heart, the blood gushing freely from my neck wound as I crumbled onto grass, the life literally bleeding out of me right in front of my own eyes.

But, before the darkness closed in on me, I thought I saw someone, a green-eyed boy, knock the spear off course, sparing me from its deathly point. I was dying anyways, though.

Too late.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Katniss~

The two-ton flying sow was all Tim's fault, according to my dear friend Maggie.

After the _empousai _train incident, Maggie, Peeta and I decided not take any more risks and just took an out of state bus instead. It was like one big vacation road trip, except for the fact that most of the other people on the travel bus weren't heading straight for their certain death like the four of us were.

It was a good thing that Peeta had volunteered to sit next to Tim for most of the ride to the first stop—which was just on the border of Missouri and Kansas—or else the whole bus would have been demolished by now. Tim and Maggie would have argued nonstop, and, well, let's just say that they were two very powerful, very destructive demigods. None of us would have stood a chance if those two decided to wage a verbal World War Three right there in the bus, and that would _not _have been pretty.

The first leg of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful—no evil dance squad demons, no murderous semi-invincible giants in sight. The four us rested up for most of the eight hours and entertained each other while we were awake. Since Maggie and Tim were actual demigods, their ADHD was acting up as both of them were forced to sit still for a long duration of time. Peeta and I did our best to calm them down by playing cheesy children's games such as I Spy and telling each other lame Chuck Norris jokes (yes, even he was a legend in my time, my dimension).

After a particularly hilarious joke ("There used to be a street named after Chuck Norris, but it was changed because nobody crosses Chuck Norris and lives.") and a couple more hours of sleeping, the bus finally pulled up at the stop. The passengers collected their belongings and got off at the curb, and Tim, Maggie, Peeta and I did the same. The next bus to Colorado would be arriving in about three hours, so we still had some time to gather a few more provisions and stock up on food, et cetera.

Naturally, the moment we stepped out of the bus, Tim and Maggie went for a whole two minutes of standing around and doing nothing before they made eye contact, started staring poison daggers at each other, and opened their mouths to argue.

"What are you looking at, Kay?" Tim asked, his brow furrowed as he frowned at my friend. "Mind your own ADHD business."

Maggie glowered at the red-haired demigod. "I wasn't staring at _you_, conceited boy! I thought I just saw something fly by near one of those tall buildings behind you. It was _huge_, but the thing was going so fast that I didn't get to take a good look at it."

Tim raised an eyebrow and turned around to take a look, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the creature that Maggie was talking about as Peeta and I did the same. Peeta looked over at me and I shrugged seeing nothing. "Well, what did this thing look like, Maggie?" I asked her curiously. "Was it a monster?"

"Definitely—it had to be," Maggie replied, nodding her head so hard that I was afraid it was going to fall off. "I think it had wings, too, but I'm not sure…"

Even though he was taller than the rest of us, Tim stood up on his toes and looked around for the monster. "Well, I don't see anything. Maybe it was just your hyperactive imagination, Kay?"

The daughter of Hermes stomped her foot, and I could tell that she was obviously frustrated at the stubborn Roman boy. "I wasn't imagining things, Tim! Maybe _you _need to get your vision checked."

"I told you—,"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But, still, a few prayers to your mom to strengthen your eyesight can't be too much trouble," Maggie retorted angrily.

I had no idea what those two were talking about, but it looked like things were going to get ugly (as it always did, sadly). I shot Peeta a warning glance and we prepared to tackle Maggie and Tim apart if need be, which was very possible.

I desperately tried for the diplomatic approach. "Come on, guys! It hasn't even been ten minutes yet and two are already having a go at one another! When will you two ever learn to at least _tolerate _each other and _stop fighting_?"

Tim's hand went to his quiver to load his bow as he replied, irritated, "When pigs fly."

I can't even _begin_ to explain the irony that happened next.

Because suddenly, Peeta, Maggie, Tim and I saw the giant flying pig. And, quite unfortunately, it was barreling straight at us at a hundred miles an hour.

"Scatter!" I yelled, and the four of us dove in the opposite directions as the BFP (Big Flying Pig) crashed straight into the bus stop and rammed it to a million pieces. Peeta and I dove left onto the curb while Tim and Maggie rolled right onto the street. Even from where I was crouching, I could hear Maggie yell at Tim for conjuring up the monster.

"DID YOU FORGET THAT SAYING THE NAME OF A GREEK MONSTER CAN CAUSE IT TO SHOW UP AT YOUR FRONT DOOR? WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING? YOU CURSED IT!"

"It's not my fault!" Tim protested, holding his hands up defensively. "I didn't say, 'When Clazmonian sows fly', did I? And besides, you said you saw it earlier—,"

"_REEEEEEET!" _The lady pig interrupted furiously, flying straight at the two arguing demigods as it let out a high-pitched squeal. It _was _huge, alright, with a wingspan of angel white feathers reaching about thirty feet. There was nothing angelic about the monster though; the pig was an enormous pink creature—like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day nightmare blimp with wings.

Peeta's eyes just about popped out of his head. "Holy cow!" he shouted, scrambling backwards frantically as he drew his sword. Then, his expression became confused. "Er, on second thought, holy _pig_!"

"You got that right," I said pretty calmly for someone who was freaking out over a giant flying lady pig on the inside, knocking an arrow onto my golden bow as I meticulously took aim. "Incoming!"

The sow, which had probably grown tired of chasing two half-bloods that could run as fast as most cars out there, turned to Peeta and I, letting out another shrieking, "_REEET!_" I shot my arrow right in between the pigs eyes, but that only made it angrier as it thrashed wildly, disorientated. In the split second that it took for the giant pig to recover, Tim and Maggie had regrouped with us, breathing hard, but thank the gods that none of them were injured.

"I remember this monster!" Maggie said in between pants as the four of us ducked behind a few Sedans in a nearby parking lot. I had absolutely no idea why the mortals hadn't taken notice of the murderous flying sow that was terrorizing the four of us—really, _really _strong Mist, probably—and I guessed they were the lucky ones this time. "In the Second Titan War, Kronos sent the Clazmonian sow to attack our troops! Percy Jackson fought it and sent it back to Tartarus, fortunately."

"Well, how did he defeat it?" I asked, sending another arrow into the pig's face, but it only roared in annoyance and demolished several more cars, getting closer to us by the second. We were right in front of a supermarket, and I had to keep the mortals safe from the monster so no one could get hurt.

"Um, let me see…" Maggie thought for a moment. "I think—yes! He latched onto the sow's leg with a grappling hook, hitched a very dangerous ride over the streets of Manhattan, and enlisted the help a few bronze statues-slash-automations to beat up the thing! That was the five-second version, by the way."

"Do you _see _any helpful bronze statues around here, though?" Tim yelled over the screeching of the Clazmonian sow as he let his arrow fly right into the flying pig's mouth. The giant monster let out a shriek of rage, flailing around in fury and crashing into cars, which exploded in a burst of flames along with a miniature-sized mushroom cloud. Wonderful.

"Tim!" Maggie shouted back at the boy, "You've made it mad!"

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out on my own, Captain Obvious!" Tim replied, already taking aim at the oversized sow again. "If you would only help—,"

"Guys, pigs are finally flying! Stop arguing for once!" I snapped as I devised a plan in my head. It was apparent that Tim had actually injured the pig when he had shot the arrow in its mouth. The trick was to find a way to get the Clazmonian sow to open its mouth again so that Tim and I could fire a volley of arrows into it and hopefully destroy the monster once and for all. Simple, right?

Simple didn't mean that it was easy, regrettably.

I rolled behind a black SUV as the beast got too close for comfort, and my friends did the same. "Peeta, Maggie," I said quickly, not wanting to waste any valuable time. "I need you to get the sow to open its mouth wide. Try to make it roar again by taunting the thing or getting it angry."

The three others looked at me like I was crazy. "_Are you crazy_?" Peeta, Maggie and Tim practically shrieked at the same time. "That's a crazy idea!"

"Well, call me crazy," I muttered under my breath, then said in a louder voice. "Guys, please, get the sow to open its mouth wide enough for Tim and I to shoot a volley of arrows into it. It's the only way that we can kill this thing before any innocent mortals get hurt."

"She's right," Tim interjected, giving me a glance of grudging approval as he grabbed a fistful of arrows from his quiver. "Get going! We don't have much time!"

Without any more words of protest, Maggie and Peeta bravely sprinted towards the Clazmonian sow as it wrecked a few more good cars. They waved their weapons threateningly in the air as Maggie taunted, hacking at the pig's leg and then speeding away like a bullet. "Hey, pork chops!"

The pig snorted in fury as it tried to locate the source of Maggie's voice, but she was running around too quickly for it to comprehend. Peeta kept the sow's attention on him while he backed up slowly, drawing it closer to Tim and I, who were crouched behind a luxurious Mercedes Benz (it was a shame—the nice car probably would be demolished to a pile of metal shrapnel in about six seconds at the rate things were going for us).

"Okay, steady," I said, taking aim. I knocked four arrows onto my bow as Tim did the same, directing them all at the sow. "Any minute now…"

Maggie reappeared in a blur in front of the pig, brandishing her sword dangerously. Her auburn hair was tangled from the wind and she was out of breath, but Maggie Kay looked like she was having the time of her life as she grinned slyly, provoking the pig.

"Come on, you!" she shouted up at the Clazmonian sow, dodging the monster's attempts to barrel into her quickly. "You're so slow that the only thing I'd use you for is to make bacon!"

Oh gods, she said the B word. And I was pretty sure that's what finally made the sow snap and roar in a fit of anger, trampling more cars and handicap signs. The beast was only twenty feet away when Tim and I let our arrows fly, shooting them straight into its mouth. Mortals screamed and ran in terror as the monster let out another ear-splitting "_REEEEEEEEEEEET_!" and stomped its short, stubby legs onto the parking lot, breaking through the blacktop. One little girl was being pulled along by her mother when her eyes widened and she pointed at the enraged sow, yelling, "Mommy! It's Wilbur from Charlotte's Web! Except he has wings and he is very mad!"

"That's nice, honey," her mom replied absentmindedly as she pushed her grocery cart along, luckily still oblivious of the fact that there was a roaring, rampaging monster on the loose about fifty feet away from her.

"But he looks like he's hungry and he's going to eat those two kids!" the little girl exclaimed tugging on her mother's sleeve.

Peeta and Maggie regrouped with Tim and I behind one of the few cars that was still in decent condition. I fired a few more rounds of arrows into the sow's open mouth and it gave one last "_REEEEET_!" before the thing finally disintegrated for good. Its yellow ashes dissipated back into Tartarus, where it probably could meet the boar of its dreams.

Maggie wiped a rim of black soot off her brow and grinned at Tim and I in admiration. "Now _that_, my friends, is some serious two-ton Clazmonian sow slaying! Nice work!"

"Naturally," Tim replied nonchalantly, already going to retrieve his fallen arrows.

My Hermes friend just rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs as he walked by. "Admit it, Roman, you're _glad_ to see that I'm still in one piece."

"Whatever you say, _graecus_."

Peeta just gave them half-amused, half-exasperated look and turned towards me, smiling. He held out his arms tentatively and I threw myself at the boy, laughing out my anxiety. Peeta stroked my wild, loosely-braided hair and let out a breath of complete relief. "Good thing we're still alive, huh?" he asked jokingly.

The nerve of that boy, I tell you. The sheer _nerve_.

I didn't know whether to smile or glare at Peeta, so I did an odd combination of both. Sadly, the expression made me look as if I was smiling evilly, like one of those evil villains in cheesy cartoon movies. My friend just glanced at me, confused, and then laughed. I smiled a little, too—it was hard to stay mad at that guy.

And that's when both of us heard the roar, the crash, and the scream. Peeta and I whirled around, fast, our senses running on overdrive as we frantically searched for the cause of the commotion. I wasn't able to locate Tim or Maggie or the two of them altogether because there was a gigantic Greek dragon blocking my vision, so I decided to stand up on the hood of—

Wait a minute. Gigantic Greek dragon?!

Curse Hippolytus and his unrelenting minions.

"There's another one?" Peeta yelled, readying his spear again. "Where—,"

"There!" I screamed, pointing to tall, lean girl in her twenties that was riding on the back of the huge, scaled dragon. She had long, flowing blonde hair and was wearing a dark black suit along with a pair of metallic combat boots. A sharp, curved hunting knife hung onto the girl's silver belt. Standing right beneath her were Tim and Maggie, who had drawn their weapons out of instinct. "She's got something in her hands and Tim and Maggie are right below the dragon!"

"But why—,"

Too late, I realized that the object the mysterious, blonde-haired girl was holding in her hands was a weapon. And not just any weapon, to be exact—it was a grappling hook. And, quick as a flash, the girl swung her grappling hook right at my dear friend Maggie, lassoing the son of Bellona like a professional Southern cowgirl. Tim yelped in surprise as he was yanked off his feet, dangling over the open air as the girl smiled triumphantly. I shot an arrow into the dragon's hide in retaliation, but the dragon merely glanced over at me with an almost bored expression. Then, it breathed fire straight at Peeta and I.

"Okay, I've had _enough_ of almost becoming demigod barbecue for dragons!" I yelped, hastily rolling out of the way of the column of flames as Peeta did the same. But, while we were preoccupied, the girl and her dragon hovered off of the ground, carrying poor, tied-up Tim with them. He struggled, but it was no use—the Celestial Bronze chain of the grappling hook was almost impossible to break.

Everything was happening too fast. The dragon was already spreading its thick black wing as it rose higher and higher into the sky. Tim was being kidnapped. Peeta and I were running full on out to get to the dragon and stop its rider before it was too late. And Maggie…

…was sprinting at top speed straight at an upright car almost directly below the dragon and Tim, who was still suspended by the grappling hook. I didn't understand what Maggie was trying to do until I saw her vault off of the hood of the car, somersault high off of the roof, and fly into the air like a brunette Wonder Woman.

Forty feet above the ground, Maggie reached out her hand and grabbed onto Tim's dangling sneaker. The boy yelled in surprise as she held onto his shoe for dear life, her own feet dangling precariously over open air. Oh my gods, what did she think she was doing?

The answer was obvious to Peeta and I as we helplessly watched the dragon finally snap its large wings out fully and fly away, faster than a bullet. Well, what else? Maggie was trying to save Tim from whatever or whoever was kidnapping him. Apparently, she really did care—or maybe that was just an act of her being a good friend. Whatever the reason was, though, she and Tim were gone, flown off to the west as the sun set.

You can probably guess that I was really starting to hate flying monsters by now.


	18. We're super duper sorry!

HELLO FELLOW PEOPLE/FANS/READERS! Okay, first things first, we just want to say that we're really really really really really really sorry that we haven't updated this Fanfic in quite a while! The reason; you may ask? Well, we're in high school and the AP exams are here and so are the CSTs and finals, so we're trying to cram all the studying we can in less then a month, before SUUUUUUMMMMER! But, most likely in the summer, we'll continue this fanfic until the end. And guess what? There's going to be a sequel to this fanfic coming out! Yeah, that's all we have for now, but we are terribly, incredibly, very sorry for not updating in a long time. Thank you for all of you readers for reviewing and following us! 3

~Sarah, the amazing writer

~Vivian, the editor-in-crime


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